Stargate Universal Sin Episode 9
by Lone-ranger1
Summary: With the line now drawn, the members of the Expedition now choose what side they're going to be on. The Wraith pull their ace in the hole and nothing is going according to plan. Personal feelings have to wait till it's over, and our heroes feel the pain.
1. Chapter 1

**Episode 9, Bonded Part 2**

_A/N: it took me awhile to write this… dunno why, it's pretty straightforward. I think mixing the character moments in with the gunfights slows it down and that's why I had trouble figuring it all out,_

_Oh well, it still turned out nicely and the story is almost done. Only 2 episodes to go now! To Dr. Daedalus, you were surprisingly perceptive ;P_

_Next Episode is almost purely character based. We find out who's staying... and who's going back to Earth. I'd love to hear some theories on all the different characters (anyone you've ever seen on Atlantis or Daedalus is fair game)  
_

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Evan couldn't believe it. Leaving Earth behind. It was something that was just beyond his comprehension. Pegasus wasn't far enough away to really be out of touch with Earth… 3 and a half weeks was all it took to get here. He'd spent longer times on off-world missions in the Milky Way.

This was different. The Wormhole Drive could reach ludicrous ranges and from what Teyla knew, the goal was to get as far away from the IOA and this Galaxy as possible.

Evan just couldn't wrap his head around it. The time he'd taken over the past dozen years working for the Air Force… how could he betray the force?

How could _John!? _That was the biggest shock of all. This wasn't something a scientist or some crazed enlisted soldier planned… The _leader_ of this base had decided to tell his own government to fuck off… All Lorne could imagine was what would happened when Woolsey found out.

Not that Lorne was going to tell him… oh no. Major Evan Lorne was loyal to the force and to his friends…

The only problem was that in this case… both sides were the same.

----------------------------

"Uhh you okay sir?"

John looked to Chuck and nodded quickly. "Yeah… why? Something wrong?" He replied quickly, kicking himself for obviously still retaining the adrenaline rush. "I'm just pissed off okay!?"

Chuck knew his place and shrugged, though he wondered what Woolsey had told the agitated Colonel. He even noted that Colonel Carter seemed pretty anxious as she took a position to the side where she could see everyone.

"Chuck…?"

He turned back to John and kept professional. "Sir?"

John seemed troubled, and he kept his voice low. "Random question… Earth or Atlantis?"

It wasn't hard to guess what John was getting at. Chuck had been able to deduce from everything going on around him… the secret meetings, the looks each member of their little gang shot each other. The fact that Doctor Jackson had refused to go back… They had something planned. Woolsey not calling for another person to interview was enough to cast suspicion on John and Sam.

The technician had chosen his side… and besides, he never liked the IOA much either. "Are we speaking metaphorically? Or literally?" With a smile, he nodded gently to John, whom drew a mildly surprised face.

John looked over to Sam, saw that she'd taken her flanking position and had just spoken to the Traveler guard at the end of the room. Perfect positions to stun the few technicians working diligently… The beginning of damnation. "What if I told you both?"

Chuck looked around nonchalantly, the Travelers were all on guard and ready to move. Sam seemed distraught, but ready to move as well. He turned back to John and smiled. "_Uno Ab Alto…_ Just say the word."

Looking to the rest of the technicians in the room, he knew Chuck was the only one who would be on his side right from the start. He sighed softly and pulled the spare holster from his back. Handing it to Chuck, he looked over to Sam and nodded once strongly. "Stun only."

Amelia had noticed when John handed Chuck the stunner. She furrowed her brow and began to lean forward, but Sam's yell quickly took precedent. "Now!"

The gate technician turned to Sam just in time to see the red bolt fly into her chest.

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Major Lorne had already gotten his team ready. These were IOA marines so he knew they weren't a part of the plan Teyla had told him. The only reason he needed them was to ensure that his conversation with John didn't lead anywhere… _confrontational._

He just needed to clear the plan up… there was no way Teyla was serious about Daedalus… or…

John's voice suddenly came over the PA as the Major and his team entered the gate room from below. He could hear a sort of strange double speak hearing both the Colonel upstairs, as well as over his headset. _"Attention everyone… this is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard."_

Lorne held his hand up to the Marines and held his position. He wanted to hear what John had to say. _"As of 1340 hours today… I am no longer the military commander of this base… I have been recalled by the IOA for an exhaustive review of my time here on Atlantis…"_

That came as a surprise. They hadn't gotten rid of him after Asuras… what made now so special?

"… _The IOA has also handed down new orders… at this moment, Daedalus and several Traveler ships are en-route to attempt to procure Zero Point Energy Modules to power this base's defensive systems when the Wraith come again."_

Lorne knew the truth. It was to power the Wormhole Drive… he could understand why they hadn't told the IOA about it. Instantly they would have pulled them all and put their own people in charge.

"… _The IOA had other plans though… they want the majority of those ZPMs to be sent back to Earth… with only one remaining here to submerge the city to try and hide from the Wraith and Replicators."_

The Major's throat caught as he heard those words. Was the IOA so stupid as to order something so…

"… _I'm here to tell you all that these orders will never come to pass. Larrin, Now would be a good time. Everyone else… I'm taking over this base. Anyone who wants to join me and tell the IOA they can fuck off… find the nearest Traveler Security and turn yourself in. Everyone else…_

Major Lorne gulped, and he looked up to see John and Sam moved forward with 3 Travelers with them.

"…_Travelers have you outnumbered and are using stunners…Don't make this anymore difficult…"_

John and Sam both noticed Major Lorne standing below with the Marines. John already had his Particle Magnum out and he saw the Major looking at him with a strange look. The Major sighed and dropped his head. "Colonel!"

He heard the marines next to him unholster their weapons, and everyone in the standoff knew what was about to happen. John narrowed his eyes and realized what he'd have to do. "Major…"

The Major fired the first shot, ducking and weaving out of the path of the return fire. He _should_ have hit. Constant training told him that the blue stun shot that flew past John _should _have hit him. Instead it went off to the left and too high.

The Travelers behind John and Sam ducked and spread out as they fired, 2 of them taking blue stunner shots and falling to the ground. Sam went prone and rolled away to the right making herself a very hard target.

John and the other Traveler crouched and ducked to the right firing all the while. The 4 Marines with Lorne were in a bottle neck position and despite doing a superb job, still fell as the red particle stun shots dropped them in their retreat. Major Lorne had gotten away though, and John almost wished he hadn't.

He looked over to Sam and both felt the angst flowing in their veins. The fight had begun, and their hope that it'd be non-violent faded away.

_-----------------------------_

Daniel had been wounded enough times to know when he could keep moving. Seeing the Traveler guards suddenly move in and '_liberate' _the infirmary after John's little speech told him this was going from bad to worse. "Hey! You!"

The Traveler turned to him and grumbled. "What? Larrin's orders are to keep everyone contained. Just keep quiet and you won't wake up with a headache."

Grumbling, and still feeling a little woozy from the morphine, Daniel kept his voice tactful. "Listen… I know about coup. I've been working with Larrin to keep the refugees calm. They're going to panic once they see you guys taking over and I can help reassure them of what's going on."

"We've got people taking care of that…" the Traveler seemed confident of it, but not arrogant which surprised Daniel. "Don't worry, they're alright."

Seeing that he was probably a reasonable man, Daniel decided that diplomacy might work well. "Listen… I know what's going on is very sudden, and I understand that you've got your orders. I'm not asking you to let me go on my own… Give me one of your men and let me help."

The Traveler growled softly, and he looked over to another Traveler reassuring the medical staff that they weren't hostile. "Sylek!"

The younger Traveler, armed with his particle magnum as well as some impressive looking security armor came over and nodded. "Yes Nevas?"

The older senior Traveler pointed to his gun and the security armor. "Give Dr Jackson your gun and armor. I'm taking him to the refugee sector and leaving you in charge."

Raising his eyebrows, the younger Traveler looked like he'd just been asked something sickening. "Excuse me?"

With a soft grumble, Nevas looked hard at him. "Take the men… grab another gun from Ilias's pack, I'm leaving now. You keep these people safe."

Despite feeling somewhat humiliated, Sylek acquiesced and handed his weapon to Daniel as he pulled the armor off. "I hope you know what you're doing Doctor…"

Daniel checked the weapon, figured it was another of those point and shoot dealies, and blew a half stoned sigh. "You and me both."

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Ronon stood with his leather body armor and the particle magnum ready in his holster. His team beside him was armed similarly, as was the Traveler strike force with body armor and face plates.

The battle was about to start, and as soon as Daedalus had taken out the Aurora's shields, the fighting would begin.

On the Bridge, Colonel Caldwell let out a small breath, then opened communications to the Traveler Craft. "This is Colonel Caldwell…. We're almost to the target position. I'll take point with the Aurora moving to flanking position. Generational ships stay mostly out of it till we take down their shields. Target drone launchers and plasma batteries."

Over the com, Katana Labrea's voice came through succinctly. "_Copy, we'll let you move in and get them to spread their fire."_

Caldwell looked over to Major Marks and nodded. "Bring forward cannons online; take us out in a perpendicular course to the lead Asuran ship. Target their hyperdrive and drone launchers. Let's keep this as simple as possible."

Marks nodded and tapped his control panel. "Yes Sir… forward cannons charging. Leaving hyperspace in 20 seconds."

20 seconds… Caldwell was once again jumping face first into the line of fire in 20 seconds. His only real hope was that this didn't turn out to be another Asuras.

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"_Hold your fire! For god's sake stop shooting!"_

John had met up with another Traveler team while Sam took care of the wounded and stunned. The city had erupted into chaos and nobody knew who was on what side anymore. The Travelers easily outnumbered the Marine Contingent, but the Marines were very well trained and some weren't using stunners, as John felt having to take cover from the P90 being aimed at him.

He waited for a lull, then motioned to the Traveler across the hall from him, in unison they leaned out and fired a few shots before moving ahead. The red blasts suppressed the pair of Marines who took the moment to reload their weapons. "Drop your weapons! We _will_ shoot you!"

John slid into position using a jutting out section for cover. The pinging of bullets near him each rang out screaming that he was a traitor. It had been quite awhile since he'd come under bullet fire and it was a feeling he didn't miss. "_The hell's the matter with you jarheads!?"_

"_Fuck you traitor!"_

The words hurt, and John felt the adrenaline push through his veins. He leaned out and managed to down one of the Marines with a well placed shot to the chest. "Marine! Stand down! For god's sake, look at goddamn situation! You really wanna let all these people die!"

"Not my problem! I follow orders!"

John realized that these were IOA marines. Trained to follow orders in defense of Earth no matter what the cost. He wondered how things were going around the rest of the city when the Traveler next to him howled in pain as his leg was perforated by a well placed 5.7mm bullet.

That was the last straw, John took a moment to calm himself down, and pushing off the wall, he dove across the hall firing all the while. The Marine had gotten bold form taking down the Traveler and was moving forward in a crouch as a pair of stun blasts threw him off his feet.

The Traveler security whimpered from the pain in his leg. And John quickly ripped the small medkit from his tacvest as he yelled into his communicator. "This is Sheppard! I've got a man down in section C-16! I need a medic down here _now!_"

Larrin's voice came in moments later, very angry. "_Your men are shooting live rounds Sheppard! I've got men down all over! I'm ordering mine to go live ammo!"_

"_No!_ _Dammit_ Larrin we don't have to kill anyone!"

"_There're __shooting__ live rounds Sheppard! I'm __not__ losing men if I don't have to!"_

Seeing that this had quickly devolved into a massacre, John held down the wound on the Traveler's leg as he turned on his headset. "This is Sheppard to any IOA loyal Marines! For the love of god! Stop shooting live rounds! You're outnumbered and can't win! Just give up and we'll send you back!"

Another voice came in as well, someone he wasn't expecting. _"This is Major Lorne, All Marines switch to non-lethal rounds. Take the renegades alive!"_

A pure double edged sword. Major Lorne had decided to stay loyal and it still hurt to remember the look he'd given him. "…Listen to the Major! For god's sakes don't kill anyone!"

It was all they could do, and John could only hope that the IOA marines listened to Major Lorne… ironically the new official Military Commander of Atlantis.

--------------------------------

"Not bad… you do any training with guns?"

Daniel holstered his weapon and sighed. So many years on SG1 and a few training sessions with Jack had improved his aim considerably with handguns. "You could say that… what do we do with them?"

The Traveler nodded and pulled out a small rod. He clicked a button and tossed it to the pair of IOA marines who lay slumped over stunned, their weapons policed by Daniel and the Nevas, their hands tied with zipties. "Beacon, a team'll come pick em up in a few minutes. We're putting em all in one of the storage rooms while we process em."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Process?"

Holding a hand up, Nevas shook his head. "Not what you're thinking. Larrin knows we can't run this city on our own… we'll be questioning your people and see who wants to help us."

Shrugging his shoulders, Daniel felt a little better. "Well… that makes sense I guess." His back ached and he could feel a little trickle of blood from his wound. "Let's keep going. Once the refugees know the plan, they should calm down."

Nevas nodded and motioned to move ahead. He kept his voice relatively calm. "That reminds me… exactly how are we going to fight off the Wraith and Replicators?"

-----------------------------------

"Suppressive fire!" Ronon fired his pair of magnums at full power and managed to stun the Asuran crewman momentarily. It would only work for a minute or two but in the laager style formation the team used, They could keep moving without too much risk… but holding a position would be difficult. Yet that was exactly they had to do. "Charges! Now!"

Drake spun his magnum around and holstered it as his other hand brought up a C4 charge.. He stabbed the radio detonator in and flung it down the hallway. "10 seconds! Fire in the hole!"

The strike team went into a full run, blue Asuran plasma shots flew at them relentlessly, none connecting from the evasive moves they made but suppressing them nonetheless. A single hit from one of those weapons would at the very least cripple them causing an unwanted snag.

Other than facing death at the hands of the Asurans though, things were going quite well. The surprise attack had disabled two of the three strong Aurora wolfpack, though 2 generational ships had fallen back due to battle damage. The Traveler Aurora was almost ignored by the Asurans though, who concentrated on the refit Daedalus with it's shield breaking plasma cannons.

On the bridge of the Daedalus, Colonel Caldwell spat out orders and watched as his commands were made into actions. "Bring us around Marks! Target the third Aurora!"

Marks enjoyed piloting the nimble craft. While specified as a Battlecarrier, the BC-304 Daedalus Class was more along the lines of a heavily armed Corvette. With room for only 16 fighters normally, and 24 wth the refit, its carrier duties were more diplomatic than actual aggression though.

That didn't mean the fighters didn't get used though, and Darkstar Titan wing was currently quite busy using their Naquadah armed missiles with shield modulators to take out the Aurora's hardpoints. It wasn't without casualties though, and only 19 fighters remained.

The Daedalus spun around like a cork and fired its forward cannons at the rear section of the Asuran Aurora. At the same time, Katana Labrea on board the Traveler Aurora laid down thunderous suppressive fire using the plasma turrets mounted on the craft. Itself which took minimal fire.

The lead 302 pilot, Major Jason "_Big Mac_" McCrea, dropped a targeting marker on the forward drone launchers of the Aurora and yellied into his mic. "Let's tear the claws off this bastard!"

In unison, all 8 of his wing fired a single missile that traveled together almost hand in hand. The Asuran shields proved useless as with the Traveler Aurora in their possession, the shield harmonic had been well studied.

The technology only worked for the relatively weak missiles though, and moments later as the Daedalus passed overhead, it's ventral Asgard Plasma Beams burst out raking across the Aurora's shields. Spurts of it splashed through, scorching the lightly armored hull.

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Sam was definitely _not_ enjoying what she was doing. It was already hard enough to listen to Woolsey's proposal to Larrin, and even harder knowing she was going to lose John one way or another. But what had really pushed her across the edge was the new planned orders the IOA were going to bring down. As well as Woolsey's surprise announcement that he would be Atlantis's political officer.

Dragging Amelia's limp body into a storeroom where the others who had resisted and were stunned into silence tore at her heart. These were her friends and comrades… her subordinates… They'd done nothing wrong except follow orders…

Sam questioned herself for the thousandth time already. Why didn't _she_ follow orders this time? She could have forgotten this, Sam could have forced herself to think about the Milky Way and accept the IOA's offer.

But she'd grown too close to these people. Some more than others but it was there nonetheless. As much as Sam wanted to deny it, she'd fallen in love with Atlantis and didn't want to leave it without a fight.

It had been almost 2 hours since they'd announced and begun the task of hunting down their friends .By this time Daedalus would have engaged the Asuran Wolfpack and Sam made a silent prayer that they'd be okay.

With only 1 ZPM and the Traveler generators, at the very least they could take off and hyperspace to somewhere unknown. But it would take months to reach another galaxy other than the Milky Way…

Andromeda was the closest and there was no clue whether there were any habitable planets there. No… Radek had worked on a list of galaxies that the Ancients had in their database and said he'd found a few that were promising… the only problem was that they were half a billion lightyears away.

Hoag's Object… the most promising one so far according to Radek. The Ancient's left detailed records of an outpost there…. So it was likely that there was at least one habitable planet they could transport the refugees and Travelers to… that is considering the Wormhole Drive worked.

As Sam laid Amelia's limp body against the wall, she thought about Rodney's last words to her. With any luck, they'd be able to take their time with 3 ZPMs.

"Ma-am… Larrin wants to speak with you."

Sam nodded to the Traveler guard she had and accepted his communicator. "Yes… Larrin this is Sam."

"_Your men are shooting at my people! I just got a report that a squad of your 'pothead' marines just attacked one of my ships!"_

Paying little attention to the misinterpreted name, Sam winced and ground her teeth. "Are they using live rounds?"

"_Why else would I be so pissed off? I'm losing contact with people all over! Tell me why I shouldn't order my men to switch to live rounds too!"_

Sam had hoped not to have to say this, but the situation finally warranted it. "Because those men have families just like you! And they're _not _willing to abandon them either! Put me on the citywide intercom!"

A moment's hesitation. Finally Larrin acknowledged and cursed quietly. The PA rang out once as an announcement and Sam took a deep breath. "This is Colonel Samantha Carter… I am ordering all Marine and Air Force Personnel to lay down their arms. You will _not_ be harmed, neither will you be trapped here. I have concurred with Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard and I am unwilling to agree to a genocidal order. I'm _asking_ you to cease hostilities…"

Major Lorne's voice cut in. "_Belay that order Marines! Non-Lethal only! Proceed with defensive plan Foxtrot Uniform!"_

Sam winced, Foxtrot Uniform was colloquial for "Fucked up!" and meant that the Marines were to act individually and use guerilla tactics. It was the least anticipatable defense, and a street level insurgent fight was the only way it could end. 'Lorne! We are _not _going to hurt anyone! Stop this and we can work this out!"

"_No can do Ma-am… Atlantis is a military base and we're under oath to defend it."_

John's voice came in now, amid the sounds of screaming behind him. _"You're fucking kidding me! You'd let all these people die for the __IOA?!__" _

Sam remained quiet in this argument. She knew Lorne quite well after serving with him, but his true rapport was with John. _"No Sir… just think there has to be a better way."_

"_You think I haven't thought that!? Goddamn Woolsey was here to…"_

Lorne's voice grew angry, and the entire city listened as the two men had it out. _"__I know__ what he was here to do! And I don't like it anymore than you do! But there __has__ to be a better way than to…"_

"_There __isn't__ goddamnit! You think I __wanted__ this to happen!?"_

"_You could have told us your plans… This didn't have to end up this way."_

Sam finally couldn't take it anymore and shut her headset off. The struggle taking place around her was overwhelming and all Sam could think about was how Amelia lay slumped over with her mouth slightly open from Sam's own gun…

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Nevas ducked and shoved Daniel to the side to avoid the stun shots flying at them. More IOA marines were protecting the refugee center, and both men found themselves under fire. "Drop your weapons! It's only a matter of time before we get you all!"

"_Suck stunner Traveler!"_

Another pair of stun bolts headed down and splashed across the wall. Nevas nodded to Daniel and held his wrist communicator to his face. "This is Nevas! I need support at refugee tower C-12! I'm pinned down with Doctor Jackson!"

Nevas fired a pair of shots to keep the Marines at bay, and Larrin's voice came in shortly after. _"We've got men all over Nevas! Hold on and I'll be… Hey!" _The sounds of a struggle came in and the distinct thump of fists connecting with facial structures. A man's voice groaned while Larrin's voice grunted as well. A final scream and the radio went silent except for a loud thump and footsteps.

Daniel used his own communicator suddenly worried. "Larrin…? Are you…"

Larrin's voice cut him off mid-sentence. _"Of course I'm fine! Ask me again and I'll shove my foot so far up your ass you'll be tasting the tattoo on my ankle!"_

Nevas chuckled and looked over to Daniel. "She likes you."

Deadpanning in his trademark style, Daniel groaned. "I wonder what she'd say if she hated me."

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"Third Aurora disabled sir... Ronon's got the ZPM from the first ship and he's just beamed back."

Caldwell nodded, the plan was working quite well so far. "That's good… have our engineers take that ZPM and hook it up right away… wanna be ready for any snags."

Major Marks nodded and replied in his calm voice. "Yes Sir…"

The battle had gone very well. The Traveler Generational ships had taken some minor damage, but with so many targets it was difficult for the Asuran Auroras to concentrate their fire. It was a hard battle and Daedalus had taken some light damage as well, but with the Auroras disabled now it was just a matter of taking what they wanted.

And leaving no witnesses. "Once we've got all out people out Marks, destroy that Aurora."

The Major hesitated for just a second before inputting the targeting information "Yes… Sir."

Caldwell noticed and narrowed his eyes. "Something wrong Major?"

Marks shook his head. "No sir… just curious."

"About?"

Marks knew that his commanding officer wasn't going to chastise him. Caldwell appreciated when he was honest. "I'm just thinking… these Auroras are some of the most advanced technology around,.. a bit of a shame to just destroy them."

"Unfortunately we just don't have a choice. It would be nice to snag a few of these but we just don't have the small arms firepower to take out replicators anymore."

The Major nodded, and saw that the last transponder signal had left the ship. "Yes sir… targeting reactor."

Caldwell himself felt a pang of remorse as the plasma streaked out towards the Aurora. True, it would have been nice to steal a few of these ships for Atlantis's defense, but without a means to destroy the replicators on the ground persay, it was just asking for casualties.

"Sir!"

The Colonel turned to his ops officer. "Yes Captain?"

"New contact on sensors…" The man's blood began to drain out of his face. "2 Aurora Wolfpacks converging on our position. ETA is 20 minutes."

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The skirmishes taking place in the city weren't as crystal clear as John had wanted them, Instead of an overwhelming number of Travelers taking down the IOA Marines, it had devolved into a cat and mouse game where each group was looking for weak spots in the other.

The Marines had learned their lesson trying to retake the control room or other critical areas. John had quickly organized the travelers under the leadership of the few people who had joined them outright.

Zelenka was in the control room along with Chuck monitoring the city for sabotage. John knew from first hand experience that throwing the city into mechanical disarray was the easiest way to put an occupying force off guard, and running around with Larrin the battle seemed favorable.

That is until the reached the infirmary, and John watched as Sam helped a wounded Traveler in, his torso a bloody mess. The look of almost despair Sam shot at them was too strong and John had to break the eye-contact.

The Traveler doctors and medics were in full ER mode, Atlantis's own doctors unwilling to allow those men and women to go untreated. Jennifer shot John a scornful look that was laced with regret. A look he'd been getting from a lot of people for the past 10 hours.

"Hey…"

John turned to Larrin, she wasn't giving him that scornful look anymore. "Yeah?"

A moment, and Larrin motioned with her head. "Come on…"

John looked back up and saw Sam comforting the Traveler she helped in. She seemed to feel his gazed and looked at him again. The pain was evident to them both.

Larrin led John to a private office and turned to face him. "I haven't lost anyone yet… but I've got dozens of wounded and they're wondering why we did this. I need to tell them everything."

Sighing, John winced. "I guess that would be for the best… but we don't even have the ZPMs yet."

"I need to give them _something_. There's no point in taking the city if we're just gonna get blasted from orbit anyway."

"… Please…just wait till Daedalus gets back. Don't give them false hope."

To the side of the room, Sam had crept closer to see what they were talking about. Now she saw Larrin and John standing quite close to each other and arguing… at least it looked like arguing. Jealousy wasn't something that Sam was too used to and seeing John suddenly move forward and hug Larrin stopped her in her tracks.

"_Sheppard… we… I can't take it anymore… I've got people wanting to take off and run… I __need__ to tell them."_

"_Nor yet… please… wait till Daedalus gets back and we know for sure… just till tomorrow… please…"_

Sam watched curiously. Neither of the other two saw her and Sam wanted to keep it that way.

"_You don't get it Sheppard… they're desperate… __I'm__ desperate… my people aren't soldiers dammit."_

"_I know… come on… just one more day. Once we have the ZPMs we'll be able to move forward."_

Larrin seemed to calm down, and she dropped her head onto John's shoulder. _"You better be right…I want to give my people a good reason for why we've got so many wounded…"_

"_I'm sorry Larrin… you know I'm sorry. But the IOA made itself clear and I won't abandon your people like that."_

John held Larrin tightly, the Traveler woman deciding to vent a little emotion with the spiky hair colonel. Sam couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride… tempered by the pain and anguish surrounding her.

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"Listen to me! You have nothing to be afraid of! You heard the Colonel, we're not going to abandon you or kick you out!"

Daniel was having a much harder time than he was hoping for calming down the refugees. The Traveler security team that had reinforced him and Nevas had made short work of the 2 marines that held their ground, but several had been wounded and the majority of the Marines escaped.

Now he was struggling to convince the panicky refugees to remain in their tower and let the battle play out around them. "You will _not_ be harmed! We're going to get you all out of here and to safety!"

The crowd began to scream back at him, unwilling to test the Traveler guards, but more than willing to scream and throw any random object they just so happened to be carrying.

It was a controlled chaos, especially since Daniel was above on a catwalk safe from the Refugees righteous indignance.

He wasn't safe however from Lance Corporal Elian Walker, He'd taken the liberty of hiding in a rather inconspicuous place and had his stunner aimed perfectly at Daniel Jackson.

The Lance Corporal wasn't enjoying having to do this, but he knew from experience that crowds were hard to contain… especially when you were trying to keep them safe. Doctor Jackson might wake up with a headache, but the Travelers would have a harder time containing the refugees and that would buy Major Lorne and the few loyal marines left time to work out a plan… or at least enough time for Daedalus to arrive and reinforce them.

The blue stun bolt flew straight and true, it washed over Daniel from his torso all around him. But instead of just collapsing like Lance Corporal Elian wanted him to, the Doctor keeled over from the hit and fell off the catwalk and into the crowd beneath him.

Horror and regret suddenly filled the young Lance Corporal's mind, and he rushed forward now not caring about anything but protecting the Doctors life… if he was still alive after that fall.


	2. Chapter 2

"Another ZPM in the hold sir… we took some casualties on this raid."

Caldwell groaned softly. Casualties were expected but it still sucked to hear it. "How many?"

Major Marks looked over the report and sighed. "3 Travelers… 2 Marines. Ronon's asking for more men for the last ship."

Clicking his tongue, Caldwell looked over to his ops officer. "How much longer for those Auroras?"

Captain Griffin sighed and shook his head. "Can't track em in Hyperspace sir. Best guess is 5 minutes."

"Alright… get our teams over and destroy those last 2 Auroras once they're back, can't risk them getting…"

An alarm suddenly began to sound, and Captain Griffin's voice boomed out in shock. "Sir! Incoming hyperspace window!"

"The Asurans?"

Griffin's voice caught, and Major Marks had to take over from his console. "No sir… Wraith signal… it's a Hive but…"

Caldwell was getting rather annoyed with this hesitation. "_What?_ Come on Major!"

"It's giving off _much _stronger energy readings than a Hive should be."

"Hmmm." Information rushed through Caldwell's head, and he remembered what Ronon had figured out. "Must be their _'superhive' _…" He sat up, both cautious and a little excited to give the Wraith back a little of what he'd gotten. "Bring forward guns to bear. Let's see what they've…"

Before he could finish, the Hive opened fire with its main guns. But it didn't target the Daedalus, and instead fired at the Traveler Aurora. Normally a tactically insane decision as an Aurora could rip a hive to shreds in moments. But something seemed odd about the large blue plasma shots. "Sir they've opened fire."

The crew watched as the surprisingly slow moving plasma streaked towards the Traveler Aurora. What happened next was terrifying.

Each blast hit with a force strong enough to visibly buckle the shields. The Aurora jerked violently as it barely held off the barrage. Instantly Major Marks screamed out what the sensors reported. "Heavy damage to the Aurora! They won't take another barrage!"

Caldwell realized that the hive indeed deserved to be called _'Super'_ "Beam the crew over now! Full evasive! Target that Hive's Engines!"

The fight was supposed to be over, but seeing the Hive fire another barrage, one half intended for the Traveler Aurora, the other for Daedalus, Caldwell realized that things had just taken a severely bad turn.

--------------------------

Major Lorne had managed to organize the few marines he had left into a fighting force of sorts. As soon as Lance Corporal Walker told him what happened, he led those men to rescue the wounded Doctor Jackson. He didn't really know why, but the Doctor had some strange jinxed effect in that he always got hurt, but he was never really in danger of losing his life beyond a few days.

So now that his Marines had broken through the line of refugees and Travelers, the Major questioned himself yet again as to what he was doing. Seeing Dr Jackson unconscious, his chest a throbbing bruise from having landed on a railing… "Let's get him stabilized and get outta here… we'll head down to the lower levels, the flood damage should keep us hidden."

It was a flawed plan, and eventually they'd get caught, but it would go down in the record that Major Lorne was _not _a renegade.

-------------------------------------

"You really think we can make it?"

John nodded and sighed. "What's the alternative? Run back to Earth with the ZPMs and leave these people with the IOA?"

Sam ground her teeth and flexed her fist. It hurt a little to think that some of her anger was the knowledge that John and Larrin seemed to be at the edge of a relationship of sorts. "That's not fair John… I did what I did because we need you here… there's still a chance we can sort this out."

"Sorry to burst the bubble, but I think stunning Woolsey pretty much ended my career… not to mention you helped."

Turning away from him, Sam repressed a yawn. She'd been up since 5 in the morning and it was almost midnight now. "Wouldn't be the first time I've shot a superior officer and gotten away with it,"

Why was Sam flaking suddenly? John was too tired to dance around the issues. "If you got something to say, say it."

Sam wanted to turn around and break John's nose. Nothing would give her more relief than to kick his ass all over her office. "What do you expect? I'm just gonna be _happy_ I'm having to shoot my own people? How many people do you _honestly_ think are gonna go along with this?"

"…Not many…" It was another of those hard questions he'd had to answer recently. "Maybe four or five… Chuck's in for sure and so's Zelenka. A few scientists are curious as to what we're going to do so we might get a few of them."

Sam turned back and scoffed softly. "Do they understand? Do they _get it_ that there's no turning back?"

"It's not like we've announced exactly what we're doing."

"Well maybe you should! Maybe you should just…"

Before Sam could finish the sentence that had risen to a yell, Chuck appeared at the door with a worried expression. "Excuse me?"

Sam and John both relented and motioned him in. "Yeah… yeah what is it Chuck?"

Chuck gulped and smacked his lips. "You guys might want to turn your radios on…"

Both leaders did, and instantly bristled at what they were hearing. _"…son is down! This is Nevas and I'm pinned down in the refugee sector by a large group of marines! My team is down and Dr Jackson is hurt badly. I can't reach him and need immediate assistance!"_

Sam instantly gasped and looked over at John. The Lieutenant Colonel at once knew this was going to end badly. "Daniel…"

John remained silent a moment, then tapped his headset. "Nevas, this is Sheppard… What's the situation?"

"_I'm pinned down and running low on ammo! The Marines who took us down are protecting Daniel but he didn't look good the last time I saw. The refugees are panicking and they've broken containment! We need immediate riot control!"_

Sam turned to John and the look in her eyes was all she needed to do. John repressed his scowl and nodded. "Locked and loaded, let's go."

Turning to Chuck, Sam gave clear and concise orders. "Keep in radio contact and use the city's sensors to guide us. Tell Larrin we could use some reinforcements."

Chuck nodded, and let them pass. "Yes Ma-am…" His voice wavered a bit, already he'd had to fire at Marines attacking the control room… he could only imagine what Sam and John felt having to strike back.

-------------------------------

"New contacts! 6 Asuran Auroras just jumped in system!"

Caldwell wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked over to his Nav officer. "Hyperdrive?"

Shaking his head, the Nav officer clenched his teeth. "Another few minutes sir… Novak's hooking the ZPM directly to the Hyperdrive."

With 2 ZPM's powering the ship and another having just been recovered, the Daedalus was by far the strongest craft the Human race had ever built. Even Odyssey wouldn't stand a chance against her.

But this Superhive… whatever it was that was powering it made its armor so tough that even the new modified Plasma Cannons being powered by the ZPM only did moderate damage before the hull regenerated. "Full Evasive! All power to shields!"

Another barrage of fire washed over the shields knocking the craft about. Consoles sparked and burned, glass shattered and the sounds of metal warping warned them all of the danger. "Marks!"

The Major pulled the ship around in a corkscrew and jackknifed between the Asuran Auroras that had just arrived. Drones and plasma blasts splashed across the shields, but it was over quickly as the craft ran.

The Auroras ignored the Daedalus, the Wraith attack code must have worked well and the ships moved into a line formation.

The Hive turned slightly and aimed for a broadside, Caldwell watched as dozens of drones and scores of plasma fire raked across the hive only causing moderate damage. That's when he realized why the Wraith must have built such a craft.

They were after Atlantis… the last gateway to the Milky Way… and with a craft like that; even with 3 ZPMs the city stood little chance. "Bring us around the long way Major! Full Forward Barrage targeting their hyperdrive!"

Marks turned his head and looked hesitant, but knew Caldwell enough that he wouldn't order something without thinking it through. "Yes sir!"

The craft banked as it turned, leaving behind smoke trails from the damage it had taken. The Aurora's completely ignored it now, but they had problem of their own with the barrage of fire from the SuperHive giving a hell of a lot more than it was taking. Already 2 of the Auroras were badly damaged, and the others seemed reluctant to move closer. "Hyperdrive?"

"30 seconds sir! Just needs to spool up!"

The Hive wasn't without damage though, and pieces of the shattered armor regenerated even as more fire poured onto it. It almost didn't even notice as Daedalus swung around and fired a full barrage of all it's weapons.

The combination of plasma, missiles, and railgun fire managed to tear a small hole through the quickly regenerating hull and caused a secondary explosion. The Hyperdrive had been disabled and now the Hive aimed everything it had at Daedalus.

Caldwell saw the incoming fire and screamed. "Get us outta here! _Now!" _He closed his eyes and felt the typical strange feeling of crossing into subspace. The ship had dodged death once more… but only 63 Travelers had been beamed over from their Aurora before the Hive completely shattered the craft into dust.

---------------------------------

A pair of red bolts flew down the hallway and dropped the Refugees armed with knives rushing forward. John hated having to double tap the trigger, but he knew Sam would only fire if they were immediately threatened. "Come on!"

Sam remained silent and ran along the hallway as well. Her Particle Magnum remained unused, but her grip remained strong. The weapon was very reliable, and Sam could see why Ronon loved it so.

Another group of refugees moved into the hallway armed with broken shards of wood. They saw John and Sam moving closer and were unwilling to try to take them on and fell back. Sam looked over to John and grimaced. "We need more people…"

John nodded and hit his communicator. "Larrin! This is John!"

Larrin's voice came through with a hint of scorn. _"What?!"_

"We need reinforcements at the refugee tower, we're trying to get to Doctor Jackson."

"_I've already got 30 men down there! Those marines of yours are making it a hard fight!"_

Sam bit her lip and activated her own communicator. "Are the marines using live rounds?"

"_No thank the Ancestors… but we can't break through and the refugees have gotten loose. My men are having trouble tracking them all."_

Chuck's voice sudden came in as well and John couldn't help but smirk. _"Larrin, come up to the control room and I can use the city's sensors to guide your men. Colonels, it's a giant mass ahead of you but I can make out the Travelers on the catwalk above, the Marines are in a laager formation protecting someone… probably Dr Jackson,"_

Sam didn't know whether to feel relief or anger, but she'd settle for just getting Daniel out of the meat grinder. "Copy that, we're moving in."

John saw something change in Sam's expression, her worry seemed to simply recede and all that was left was the full bird Colonel who had more kills to her name than any other female of the same rank. John felt the confidence flow from her and bucked himself up for the battle. He was an efficient soldier… and now was the time to shine.

-------------------------------

Dusty groaned loudly as the medic peeled off the charred Kevlar on her upper chest. She tried to consider herself lucky that the shot had to burn through a console before it hit her, as well as not hitting any further south which would have been particularly painful.

The morphine flowing through her was enough not to worry much, but not enough to stop her fist clenching at the feeling of skin peeling. Ronon sat beside her with one strong hand on her shoulder, the other in her hand.

Drake had taken fire too, but his pack had taken the brunt of the hit and he sat next to her along side Vega with a bandage on his shoulder. Dusty was delirious from the narcotic painkillers and chuckled mindlessly as the last strip of her vest took some skin with it. "Ooowwww…"

Vega chuckled and gave her friend a gentle nudge. "Balls out Dusty."

Both Ronon and Drake looked at each other oddly as Dusty chuckled and rolled her eyes. "I told you Leese… Barbie and GI Joe aren't biology lessons."

Ronon furrowed his brow and wondered why the other three were chuckling, but the doctor on Daedalus cut in. "Excuse me… I hate to say this but visiting hours are over." He looked to Drake. "You need some antibiotics anyway and you.." he looked at Vega. "You look like you haven't slept since we left Atlantis."

The tired Captain smiled and nodded. "27 hours and counting."

The doctor rolled his eyes and muttered in a foreign language before replying. "Yes well… we'll be in Atlantis in 3 hours so I'd like you to at least get a nap. Find a cot somewhere or else I'll have security stun you so you don't pass out in the hallway."

Vega rolled her eyes and grabbed a hold of Drake beside her. "Alright alright." Feeling Drake resist, she stared him down. "You're coming with me because I know you've got more of that sluggowitch stuff and I _need_ some right now."

Drake chuckled as he acquiesced and shoved Vega back jokingly. "Trade you for those cohibos."

The two teammates laughed as the waved to Dusty and walked away. The doctor then looked to Ronon and was about to say the same, but seeing the Satedan's anger show just a tad decided his life was more valuable than 5 minutes more. "Uhh…"

Ronon had dealt with Carson, and then Jennifer when it came to sitting by wounded teammates. He _always_ got a few minutes longer than anyone else. "I'll go once I'm done."

Nodding with a suddenly sarcastic smile, the doctor turned and left. Dusty snickered and squeezed Ronon's hand in thanks. "Guess you usually get what you want."

"Easier this way."

Both laughed softly. Ronon would hate to admit it but seeing Dusty take fire had almost broken his concentration. Vega had taken upon herself to drag the wounded Sergeant behind thicker cover while Ronon laid down suppressive fire. Drake had pushed ahead with the mission and pulled out the ZPM of the Aurora before he himself got hit.

The Asgard beaming tech had a strange timing effect to it. It always got them out just in the nick of time. Time… the most valuable resource the expedition had. Ronon was glad that he'd have at least a little time before being chased out of the infirmary. "How bad does it hurt?"

Dusty shrugged, she didn't really like wearing scrubs but at least the blanket covered any sensitive areas. "Morphine helps… plus I'll have a cool scar after."

"Ha! Like anyone'd get to see it."

Seeing that Ronon was using humor to cope, Dusty decided to mess with him. "Well you might have… but not anymore…" Unafraid, Ronon chuckled. Dusty laughed as well and kept talking "Don't get too excited… you might be cute but I'm not declaring my undying love."

"I didn't think you were."

Her smile fading a bit, Dusty became more serious. "Thanks Ronon. I really mean that."

"What for?"

A few moments of hesitation, and Dusty sighed. "I uhh… I'm glad you trusted me… It's been a long time since I felt like I belonged and well…" Another sigh, and she squeezed Ronon's hand again. "... All I got left on Earth is…" She lost her smile and stared off into the distance. "When the Ori came to the Milky Way… me and Alicia got picked… I'd just gotten divorced and well… I thought I was gonna die. You never saw the Ori right?"

Ronon shook his head. "Wraith are bad enough for me."

"Right… well… I almost wish you were there… the Ori were so…" Dusty stopped and took a deep breath. "Well.. it's in the past. But… " She looked up to Ronon and smiled. "I wish I'd had someone like you there… instead of…"

Ronon remained silent as Dusty trailed off. He knew that the woman had had a difficult marriage being in the military, a lot of the Marines had had difficult marriages because of the Expedition. He still questioned why they insisted on such strange rules about that sort of thing, but he could sort of understand that it had a purpose.

Dusty wasn't declaring she loved Ronon, but she was thankful that he'd given her the chance to be with a team dedicated to something beyond duty. "I know… I'm glad you're here too."

They held hands for a few more minutes, but soon the Doctor came back to pester them and Ronon knew he had to refocus.

It would be in hours that they'd land on Atlantis, and the shit would finally hit the fan.

------------------------------------

Major Lorne saw his chance once more, and once again his shot was a little to the left.

John ducked and fired back, knocking down the Marine next to Lorne and forcing a regrouping. With the Travelers up above, John and Sam below with another 2 Travelers, the Major knew his group was screwed.

_Dammit_… how could he have missed _twice_? It wouldn't have really made a difference, but he knew it would inspire his men to keep fighting and perhaps do something.

Instead, the Major had to duck and run, and now with particle stun shots knocking down his men… and Dr Jackson propped up on the wall… certainly he knew the battle was lost.

But that was the point wasn't it? Just show that he wasn't going to take this sitting down… give the IOA a reason to believe him when he'd stand before them and lie… say that the he indeed tried to save the Atlantis Expedition.

------------------------------------

"_Daniel!"_

John rushed ahead along side Sam firing suppressive fire towards the crowd of Refugees. He didn't actually hit them, but then again he wasn't aiming to. He just needed to clear the area around him so they could get him out of this mass of scared meat.

He saw the blue flash too late, and he fully expected the loosening of all his muscles (how the stunners never loosened his bowels he'd never know but he was grateful nonetheless.). Yet the shot was just wide of him, soaring over his right shoulder and impacting harmlessly on the wall.

Once was understandable, the shock of hearing John declare his renegade status must have been jarring. _Twice_ wasn't a coincidence. "Lorne!"

He was gone, and more stunner rounds flew past him. John stunned one marine out of pure instinct and then froze. Sam saw that John had been stopped by something and tackled him to the ground behind cover. _"John!_ Snap out of it!"

The two of them rolled on the ground behind a giant flower pot that denoted the entrance to the tower. John quickly realized that Sam was shaking him awake even as she lay on top of him and recovered. "He missed."

Sam didn't care, Daniel was within reach. "John! Daniel's over there! I need cover!"

Slamming back into reality, John knew Lorne could wait. "Right… Right…" He flicked his headset and spat out orders. "This is Sheppard to any Traveler Security in the Refugee sector, Lay down covering fire! We're going to recover Dr Jackson!" No acknowledgement, but then again it wasn't as if they were under oath to follow his orders. John looked to Sam and nodded. "Ready?

Sam shrugged and flicked her weapon's safety off. "No, but let's go."

Taking one last deep breath, John swung out from cover and spotted Daniel on the ground, He was being tended to by a Marine Medic specialist and John made sure to keep him out of his line of fire.

A few stun bolts landed nearby, but the sudden firestorm of red stun shots above them served well and quickly overpowered the Marine position. John stayed low and took a defensive position around the Marine Medic. "How is he!?"

Sam moved in next and immediately crouched next to Daniel, The Archeologist was barely conscious, his back bleeding from the reopened wound, and his chest taking sharp quick breaths. The Medic waved his hand and kept low. "Massive bruising, Ribcage fractures and he's in shock. I've stabilized him but there's too many combatants to get him out safely!"

Daniel coughed and shook his head. "Least I didn't land on my head."

Nobody laughed, and John fired a pair of shots towards the position the Marines had decided to try and hold. "Go go! I'll cover you!"

More stunner shots came in around them, and the Marine medic looked to Sam. "Help me move him!"

Sam quickly looped one arm under Daniel's left and in unison with the medic, lifted him up to his feet. Daniel shrugged his head dazedly to Sam and mumbled. "_I love you, you know that?"_

"I know… I love you too…" Sam was used to this, when in doom filled situations one always wanted to express one's emotions. She loved Daniel like a brother and Daniel loved her back,

Daniel started chuckling, but then coughed as he walked. "I'm proud of you… _*cough*_ don't let anyone tell you this is wrong…" Daniel stopped speaking after that, the action hurt too much and all he wanted was morphine.

Sam drew in a sharp breath and resisted hugging Daniel. He was one of the few people she'd ever want or need support from and his words made this whole ordeal just tolerable. She turned and watched as John joined the group of Travelers and reorganized them into a more effective unit. The main fight for control of the city was over, but now came the hard part.

Seeing who would stay… and who wanted to go home.

------------------------------------

"Report… why isn't Atlantis right ahead of us?"

Major Marks's fingers flew across the console, it wasn't long before he had an answer. "Hyperdrive's overloaded sir… Lieutenant Novak says she's had to jury-rig the ZPM directly to it and it's overheating. Just needs a few minutes to cool off."

Caldwell harrumphed. "Hmm… Overheated? The hell's going on down there…?" He tapped his own communicator and barked. "Novak, you wanna tell me why we stopped between solar systems?"

Novak's nasal voice came in surprisingly with no hiccups. "_Sir, we took serious damage in our encounter with the SuperHive. Our main power grid to the engines and shields took severe struc…"_

One thing that Caldwell _hated_ was long explanations using obfuscating words. "Can you sum it up in one sentence?"

"_Uhh… I can try… we're having to feed the ZPM's power directly into the systems and it's overloading them."_

Rolling his eyes, Caldwell replied. "And how long do we have to wait here?"

"_About 5 minutes sir… we're bleeding the heat off with…"_

The Sensor Officer interrupted with a bark. "Sir! We've got 2 contacts! Wraith Cruisers!"

"Where the _hell_ did they come from!?"

"Must have been nearby, they're moving towards us."

Caldwell growled softly and looked to Marks. "Arm forward cannons, Plug em Major."

A few seconds and Marks cursed softly. "Asgard Weapons are offline sir, the power grid is overloaded and needs to cool off. All we've got is Railguns and Missiles till we get power restored."

Cursing under his breath, Caldwell realized that he was back to his first 2 years in Pegasus… except… "Shields?"

"Moderate… against 2 cruisers though…"

Sighing, Caldwell knew that the ship was about to be put through it's paces. "I hope you've been skiing Major, cuz I want you to slalom our way through this one."

Major Marks raised both eyebrows, cocked his head to the side as he looked at the control panel and cracked his knuckles as he muttered softly. "This should be interesting…"

------------------------------------------

Sam hefted Daniel onto the infirmary bed and watched as a tired Jennifer Keller scanned him using an ancient sensor. "Oh god… did you at least get the license plate of that truck?"

Daniel had recovered enough to spit a little wit back. "Actually _I_ hit it instead of _it_ hitting _me_."

Jennifer couldn't help it and snorted, her eyes had bags the size of golf balls but Daniel's constant positive outlook broke through it easily. "Oh god… well then maybe you should get a mechanic instead." She smiled at the injured man, but lost most of it when looking to Sam.

It hurt to see the Doctor do that, the city was getting used to the idea of the coup, but whenever people looked at her, she always saw resentment or disbelief.

Sam tried to think of what Daniel had said earlier, and just couldn't bring herself to believe it. Only those who decided to join them looked at her with respect… She could only imagine what _Caldwell_ was going to think.

----------------------------------------

"We've taken these corridors, and once that tower is cleared the core of the city will be in our control."

Larrin pointed out a few sections to her field commanders. "What about the piers? Those potheads try and attack our ships again?"

Chuck winced and shook his head. "It's _jar_head… and no, most of them stopped using live rounds from what I can tell over the radio." He sighed softly and looked over at Larrin. "Infirmary's taking anyone who's hurt. Your docs are saying it's nothing they can't handle."

Scoffing, Larrin waved the sympathy off. "Save it… I'll take the pity when I'm dead." Moving over now to the screen, Larrin pointed out 2 positions. "We need to take those labs. There's explosive material in there and those _jar_heads might get a bad idea."

Furrowing his brow, Chuck cocked his head to Larrin. "How do you know that? Hell I didn't even know those labs had that."

Larrin smirked and shook her head idly. "You think I was gonna let the IOA kick me out so easily? If it weren't for Sheppard actually planning this and convincing me I'da killed you all and taken the city the hell outta here."

A little disturbed, Chuck gulped. "Really?"

Smiling deviously, Larrin gave Chuck a gentle shove. "Oh don't worry… I'da kept you around for one thing or another."

Chuck now knew damn well what Sheppard had told him long ago, Larrin kept her phrasing insinuative in both the best imaginable way, and the worst.

-------------------------------

John was already quite tired. Almost a day of fighting and running around helping the Travelers mop up and drag stunned Marines and resisting Atlantis personnel had taken it's toll and his temper had reached critical.

The only thing holding it back was the sorrow he still felt. John couldn't believe that he was actually doing a bad thing, so he blocked it out. This was just another mission, just something that had to get done and would get sorted out later.

Denial was the most wholesome feeling he'd ever felt, and now as he lugged Stackhouse's body into the locked store room where the stunned Marines were now under guard, He felt like he was just cleaning up the city.

The marines yelled and taunted him, daring to have him move closer. John knew for a fact that the words they called him… _traitor… scum… Benedict Sheppard… _they all ended up being true to some degree. He laid Stackhouse down and sighed as the Travelers pulled him towards the Marines. A dozen guards with Particle Weapons and Stunners.

The reveal of their plan would take place once the city was safe. Daedalus still had to return and that brought a whole 'nother can of worms to the pile.

----------------------------------

"How much longer Lieutenant!?"

Caldwell screamed even as the sparks flew on his bridge. The minutes his ship had been dodging these craft made for a difficult time in his life. _"Just another 30 seconds! I'm hooking up the ZPM now!"_

It was ironic that even with 3 of the most powerful energy sources ever created, the Daedalus was reduced to its own limited energy production capabilities because of battle damage. "Don't wait for orders, push us into Hyperdrive as soon as you can!"

"_Yes sir!"_

Caldwell watched as the ship pulled into what should have felt like a high gee turn, the Asgard designed inertial dampeners worked wonders and instead he just got a full viewscreen of the Wraith Cruiser attacking them "Marks! The hell are you…?"

A pair of blue plasma shots spat out of the front of the craft and tore into the right side of the Cruiser as the 304 sped past it. "Weapons are back sir! Act of impulse!"

Chastising the Major for getting a little revenge wasn't going to do anything, and besides the Colonel agreed. "Fire at will!"

Marks corkscrewed the ship dodging more incoming fire as he turned for another pass. "Yes Sir!"

With full power restored to weapons, the already shot up Cruiser wasn't going to pose a hard target, and Caldwell couldn't help the smile as a pair of plasma beams cut the ship in half. "Get us outta here as soon as you can Major… Atlantis is gonna need those ZPMs."

It was only a few more seconds before the Daedalus tore open a hole in subspace and began it's final run to Atlantis, the remaining Cruiser signaled the rest of the Wraith fleet in position… all they had to do was keep Atlantis where it was long enough for the SuperHive to be repaired and come claim the portal to their new feeding ground.


	3. Chapter 3

Larrin sighed as she watched the last Traveler Ship dock with Atlantis. Her entire fleet except for the Aurora was here now, and there was barely enough room for the two ships still out there.

John stood next to her on the balcony watching, knowing that this fight was over. "I guess I should thank you."

"Oh? What for?"

It was plain to John that Larrin wanted to fight. And after such a hard day of shooting his friends and comrades, John wanted to fight too. "Maybe because you didn't just kill us all. Don't think I didn't see your men moving into position over the past few weeks."

Larrin narrowed her eyes and turned to him. "I can still do that."

"But you won't."

It was a tense moment, and Larrin felt like throwing Sheppard off the balcony to rid herself of the guilt everytime she looked at him. "I hate you you know that?"

John shrugged, he'd been getting used to being hated again. "Join the club; I hear they just got a whole bunch of new members."

"You know my people are scared now. We might have control of the city but we can barely run it. Some of your technicians refused to help us."

"I'm not surprised… I'm guessing only a few people might want to help."

Larrin had lost the edge of anger that she was riding. And before she could reply, her communicator bleeped. She lifted it to her mouth and spoke. "This is Larrin… what's going on?"

"_Larrin… This is Tydus, the Lantean named Chuck says he's detecting Daedalus on the edge of the system. It's alone."_

Turning to John, Larrin narrowed her eyes. "And the Aurora?"

"_No sign of it… Daedalus will be in communications range in 2 minutes… Chuck says the ship looks shot to hell."_

Taking in a sharp breath, John motioned with his head. "Come on… this isn't over."

Keeping quiet, Larrin followed as they raced to the control room. Sheppard wished sorely that Sam was around but he hadn't seen her ever since splitting up after rescuing Daniel. "Shit… shit shit shit…" he turned to Chuck. "How do I look?" his hands flew up to his face and quickly fingercombed. "Caldwell's gotta land and not suspect anything. Ronon's team along with the Travelers there are gonna take it from the inside but if Caldwell suspects anything he'll think twice and beam down instead."

Chuck did a double take, and then realized that he himself must look like death warmed over. "Uhh… shit." He jumped over to where Amelia kept a small cache of stuff and rifled through it. "Got it!" he pulled out a little makeup kit and handed John a comb. "Better than nothing."

John winced at the thought of using makeup, and noticed a few of the Travelers chuckling at the odd sight. He quickly slicked the comb through his hair and almost disdainfully pulled the puffy looking thing with some kind of powder on it. Larrin beside him snickered and bit her finger. "Come on precious, Gotta look sexy for your date with that bald freak."

Chuck couldn't help it and stifled a snort, but seeing John's look of ire and his own haggard face in a reflective surface realized he too would need some touching up. "Uhh sorry sir."

Rolling his eyes, John simply groaned. "The things I do for this city…" he dabbed lightly at his skin and tried to cover up the dark splotches. He ended up looking like a 5 year old after messing with her mom's makeup kit and Larrin couldn't take it anymore,

Daedalus was only a minute out and she yanked the kit out of his hands. "For god's sake… here…" She quickly wiped away the mess he'd made and began to preen his face. Chuck decided that perhaps it would look _better_ for him to be tired and simply say he's about to go off duty if it came up.

The Travelers around laughed as John groaned softly and relented to Larrin dolling him up. They really cracked up when Larrin licked her thumb and rubbed a particularly bad piece of gunk on his face off like a mom to a 5 year old.

John pulled back a bit and resisted half-assedly, but seeing that Daedalus was just about to enter communications range gulped. "Am I pretty yet?"

Larrin snorted and used her thumbs to wipe underneath his eyes as she finished. "Go go go!"

Jumping towards the com panel, John turned the camera away from the control room and focused it solely on him. Chuck moved over as well but Larrin caught him and began to doll him up as well despite trying to fight back. John didn't bother with it and opened the com line.

The bridge of the Daedalus came up and John tried to keep a neutral face. "Colonel… everything alright?"

Shaking his head vehemently, Caldwell looked pretty worried. "No everything is _not_ alright. We've managed to steal 3 ZPMs but my ship is barely holding together and we've lost the Traveler Aurora."

Hearing that from the side, Larrin instantly lost it. "_What?!" _Storming over she shoved John to the side and stared at Caldwell. "What happened?! What about the crew!?"

"We got attacked by the Wraith Superhive… That thing took out the Traveler Aurora and from the last sensor reading we had… another 6 Asuran Auroras. We managed to get about 60 people off the ship before it blew up… only reason we're here is we hooked up the ZPMs to the ship." He looked around the bridge and sighed. "Still got out asses kicked… We need heavy repairs and are coming in to dock. Where's Colonel Carter?"

Sheppard had gone pale despite the rouge on his face, he gulped at hearing the Superhive destroying 7 Auroras. "Uhh… guh…"

Larrin had turned and was cursing furiously under her breath. Chuck could see that things had totally gone FUBAR and took control as he could. "Uh sir… Colonel Carter is currently indisposed with Mr Woolsey…"

Moving him to the side, John regained command. "Dock right away Colonel… I'm guessing the Wraith are gonna show up pretty soon. I'll get Colonel Carter and meet up with you once you set down."

Caldwell narrowed his eyes momentarily, but nodded. "I agree.. .and I've been thinking but we'll discuss that with Carter. We'll be down in 5, out."

The screen winked out and John groaned as he landed on his palms. "God_dammit…_."

-------------------------------------

The speed at which it happened shocked Marks. He had just finished landing the Daeadlus and no sooner than him turning and he was looking down the barrel of 5 Particle Magnums. "Uhh…"

Ronon was at the head of the sudden assailants. Caldwell remained silent but not submissive. "Nice and easy… Everyone give up your weapons and come quietly.. we're not gonna hut you."

Caldwell snorted and remained in his seat. "So this is what Sheppard had planned… Hrm… Woolsey mentioned he might try something… All assuming you didn't join the Travelers on your own…"

Ronon kept the weapon pointed at Caldwell and narrowed his eyes. "Sheppard. You know why we're doing this."

Nodding, Caldwell tapped his console slowly. "Yeah… and that's why I'm telling the crew to stand down." He carefully tapped a few buttons and the com lines opened. "This is Colonel Caldwell… As I'm sure most of you are aware now… the Travelers have decided that they know what to do better than we do. We're outnumbered and outgunned so stand down and do what they say."

Ronon moved closer and motioned to both Caldwell and Marks. "Come on… No sudden moves."

Marks held his hands up and looked to the console. Caldwell may have given up easily because the odds were against them… but he'd also locked out everyone but he and the Colonel himself.

-------------------------

Sam walked into the control room with a pair of Traveler Guards. She had wanted to tell them to piss off but after having Keller chase her out of the Infirmary, there wasn't much else she could do.

Daedalus had just landed and Sam knew she had to take control of the situation… as much as she wanted to sit by Daniel and give him her support, she was needed here. "Chuck, has Zelenka hooked up the ZPMs yet?"

Noting that Sam made no mention of Daedalus's crew or even that Ronon had taken his team to hunt down the last stragglers, Chuck simply nodded and motioned to the screen. "Yeah… the ZPM's were mostly charged. That gives us one extra just in case." He motioned over to the screen. "There's a problem though. We're getting hyperspace contacts all over around the system. None of them are within range, but it's not hard to guess who they are,"

Sam nodded and sighed. "The Wraith… they're digging in for a siege." A moment to think, and Sam could only see one course of action. "Tell Zelenka to prepare to submerge the city… Wraith weapons don't have enough power to reach us if we're under."

Larrin had been off to the side scheduling fresh security for the night. None of them had had any sleep and it had been almost a day and a half now. "What? The city can do that?"

Nodding, Sam decided that she really needed some time alone. There was still the issue of telling the SGC what they were doing… and how she was going to explain it so the people who went home didn't lose their careers. "Yeah… it's how the Ancients saved the city from the Wraith. We're pretty much in the same situation they were at the end of the war." A moment passed, and Sam sighed. "I'm gonna be in my office… I've got a lot to sort out and I'd like to do it alone."

Larrin was impassive as she nodded. "Yeah… no problem." She looked to Chuck as Sam turned around. "You know how to do that stuff she said?" Chuck nodded and sighed. He was _so_ tired that all he wanted to do was fall into bed and sleep hard. "Good… do it."

----------------------------

John took a deep breath, then entered the room where Caldwel and Marks were. There were other Majors in the city too, but these were the highest ranked.

Both men stared back at him, Caldwell muttering even as stunners were leveled at him. "So the man himself arrives… Sheppard, King of Atlantis?"

John groaned at the name and shook his head. "You _both_ know this isn't the way I wanted it."

"You're telling the man behind a forcefield!"

Sighing, John looked away. "You guys hungry… need the bathroom or..?"

Caldwell snapped finally. "Cut the bullshit Sheppard! You're a turncoat and as honorable as it may be this time you're still scum."

It was obvious the words still affected John, and gave the wall behind him a light smack with his fist. "Jesus Caldwell… you think I _like_ having to do this?"

"Don't think I'm stupid Sheppard… I know you're a good man deep down, but you're a pisspoor soldier and I only wish you could have found another way."

John still didn't face them, but his head was hung in shame. "I know… and I _did_ try… but the IOA forced our hand… Goddamnit guys… you have any idea what they ordered?"

Woolsey had spoken to Caldwell briefly, and from what he knew it wasn't a nice thought, but orders were orders. "Hide the city… with the ZPMs we could cloak or even submerge the city… Which by the way I _really_ recommend as that Superhive is on its way."

Larrin had brought John up to speed, Ronon didn't even bother taking a nap along with his team and quickly got to hunting down the last few stragglers in the city. "Already being done… we'll be underwater in less than 30 minutes…" John sighed as he turned back to the men. "There's something you need to know… we're not staying here for long."

Marks narrowed his eyes and listened, but Caldwell simply scoffed. "Oh really? So you're not only defying orders and betraying Earth, but now you're taking the city?"

Groaning, John decided to make a little more backstory for the Colonel and ponderous Major. "You remember last year? When me and my team got the city back from the Asurans?" Both men nodded. "The IOA figured they'd do the same once you got back… Woolsey told Colonel Carter that the IOA was going to take the ZPM's you brought back to Earth and leave only one here. They wanted to kick the refugees out and take the city to some uncharted planet and hide… they were going to run and let everyone who isn't from Earth die."

It was a chilling story to hear, Marks felt his throat constrict, not enough to keep silent though. "What?" he turned to Caldwell. "That can't be true…"

Caldwell narrowed his eyes and gave Marks a _'be quiet'_ look. The Major acquiesced and rubbed his mouth in contemplation. Caldwell replied softly. "That's not my problem Sheppard… I feel for these people but we've got to consider our problems first."

"That's where you're wrong Caldwell…" John rose to his full height, now unafraid or ashamed of what he'd done. "…About 5 months ago, Dr Zelenka found a kind of engine the city has that makes the Daedalus's hyperdrive on a ZPM look like a slug. It's called a Wormhole Drive and we're going to use it to get away from the Wraith and the Replicators."

"So what? You did all this just to go home to a prison cell? You…" Caldwell froze, suddenly understanding what Sheppard's remorceful eyes said. "Oh my fu… you're not heading back to the Milky Way are you?"

Shaking his head, John replied tersely. "Woolsey was pretty clear that only the city and any technology the Travelers had was welcome. The people weren't going to be welcome _anywhere_ and would have been quarantined."

John could see that Major Marks was deeply affected. Outwardly, the man simply stared off into the distance, but inwardly John could see he was conflicted. He needed allies and even if it meant being a little dramatic, Marks would be a good ally.

Caldwell growled softly and shook his head. "I believe you Sheppard… I know the IOA has problems… but kidnapping us all isn't going to make us believe in you anymore."

"Don't worry… you'll see the walls of the SGC in a few days tops."

"What? You're actually going to send us back?"

John nodded and decided that leaving after dropping this shell would affect Marks. "I'm telling you two right now… we're going to send anyone back who wants to go back. Anyone who wants to stay is welcome." He sighed and looked away. "I'd honestly send you back on Daedalus… but it doesn't look like we'll be able to repair it quick enough before the Wraith show up in force. So I'm going to send one of the ZPM's you brought back with you… keep the IOA at least a little happy." Before either man could respond, John turned to the Traveler guard next to him. "Make sure they're taken care of. Keep them away from the other detainees."

Ignoring anything Caldwell said, John took a tired step out of the room. 32 hours awake now, and John almost thought he was dreaming as he saw the waterline go up along the shield of the city.

----------------------------------------

Sam took a very deep breath before she tapped the control on her video uplink. The blinds were drawn and everyone knew not to bother her. She'd been cooped up in here for a while now, still distraught over the events of the last day and a half.

So many people were hurt, some critically… but some deity had smiled on them and nobody had died on Atlantis… yet. The loss of the Traveler Aurora was a heavy weight on everyone though… another 200 lives lost in an attempt at survival… Larrin must have been feeling horrible and Sam knew the Travelers had suffered tremendously.

Constant arguments and fighting over the past day and a half had taken it's toll, and despite feeling lonely and needing company, With Daniel in the infirmary, Sam just couldn't ask anyone on her side… not even John for such a thing.

The whole infirmary staff along with the Traveler medics was pulling the graveyard shift, but each was willing and able thank god. That didn't do much to help Sam's clarity and conscious though… She'd made her choice and now she had to stick by it through hell or high water… both literally in this case.

It was so different, being forced to make such a clear and concise decision where the options were so personal. It had been hell for weeks… knowing this whole coup was going to take place… and simply not knowing how to achieve the same goals without having to resort to such drastic… and final measures.

So now that the wormhole was open… the 3 ZPM's humming beautifully providing all the power the city would ever need in her lifetime… Sam recited what she'd say once the uplink became solid. The secure line would be private… at least for a few days until the IOA Security loggers went over it. If all went well it would be far too late to do anything… not that they could at this point.

His face was a little sullen, almost as if he were expecting to have to receive this call. "Carter? What's wrong? Why're you using the secure uplink?"

Sam smiled… just as she always did when speaking with Jack. "The Wraith are here… we're under siege."

Jack's features sharpened, as did his tone. "_What?!_ _Fer cryin' out loud Carter, what the hell are you doing calling then!?"_

"Because I'm not coming back… Jack."

The General's mouth opened in shock, using his given name as well as the admission was just a little too much to take so quickly. It took a few seconds for Jack to think it over, and coming to a conclusion, he seemed to recede just a bit. "… Captain goes down with the ship?"

Shaking her head, Sam then shrugged indecisively. "No… well… sort of… more like the Captain goes wherever the ship goes…"

"Wherever the ship goes?" Jack furrowed his brow, and then realized what Sam was telling him. "You're uhh… you're serious huh?"

Nodding now, Sam took a deep breath. She'd gotten this far… gotta push through to the end. "Yeah… and uhh… I just wanted to uhh… I guess I just…" Sam couldn't finish it. How could she say goodbye to Jack O'Neill?

Jack for that matter knew exactly what she wanted to say… and he himself knew he'd never be able to say it either. "Yeah… uhh… I guess I should uhh… I'm…"

Forcing every last bit of willpower she had, Sam finally did what she opened this video link up for. "Jack… Before I… I just want to know why."

Furrowing his brow, Jack raised an eyebrow. "I think that's my line."

Feeling her cheeks quivering, Sam kept her voice low and strong. "_No_… No more _games_… no more _assumptions_… I want to know why Jack."

Now Jack understood what she was asking, and he felt his blood pressure go up. He took a few seconds to breath with his eyes away from the screen, and then replied with a darting glance back. "…you know why."

Raising her voice a bit, Sam's tone became terse. "_No!_ No, I _don't_ know… I'm sick and tired of _conjecture_… I'm sick and tired of '_I know'_… _goddamnit__ Jack_…!" A sharp deep breath, and Sam could feel her eyes moistening. "_Why didn't we ever try_?"

It was obvious Jack was _very_ uncomfortable… but he understood how serious this situation was and he kept his voice soft and strong. "I… wasn't sure what you wanted."

"_I wanted…!"_ It came out suddenly, and Sam realized she didn't really have a good answer to that question. She could feel a tear begin to form in her eye, and blinking it away, she held it from falling for another little while. "I…"

Jack nodded. "Yeah…" The General sighed, and rubbed the side of his face.

A few moments of silence, and Sam kept going, asking what she needed to know. "Why didn't you retire?"

"Why didn't you stay at Area 51?" It was a retort that wasn't fair, but her question was equally unfair.

Neither could answer their respective questions… the truth just hurt too much. Sam knew damn well Jack was just as married to his job as she was… and how important both were. "I guess we're both at fault."

"Yeah… we are…"

The silence between them was heart wrenching, 12 years and they still couldn't talk about what was between them. The closest either ever came was locked in a room with Teal'c and a Za'tarc detector… and it never left that room more than a peek for all they tried. Jack finally recovered from the shock and spoke. "So… any clue as to where you're going?"

A smile came to Sam's face… Jack knew her too well… business was always first. "Umm… we've got a few options… can't say specifically yet." She couldn't mention the wormhole drive… the IOA taped these transmissions and the less they knew the better. "No other choice though… it's all or nothing…" She smiled sarcastically, and felt enough strength to ask again. "…just like us I guess."

Jack smirked ruefully as well, and he ground his teeth from the stress. "Yeah…"

"I… I know why I didn't stay at Area 51…" Sam gulped as she closed her eyes. "…and I know you know why… but… why didn't you retire? Really."

Taking a very deep breath, Jack steeled himself and knew this was the last chance he'd probably ever have to speak to Sam again. "… Because I could never tie you down…" He looked deeply through the screen to Sam's sparkly blue eyes… shining behind her tears. "… I could never ask you to stop doing what you love while I…"

It was by far the most honest Jack had ever been with Sam, and now the Colonel winced knowing it was the truth. "… _I would have_... you know I would have…"

"I know you would have… but I never lied to you… I _want_ you to be happy." Jack took a deep and very labored breath. "Sam… how many times did I have to pry your fingers off some doohickey and order you to go home?" Jack's face was stone, but even the bible said that water could come from stone. "What happened every time we tried to get away from it all?" a soft groan and Jack let it out because it had been plain to him for so long. "You honestly think we could have…!? I've _been _through that Sam… you _know _I've been through that." a emphatic sigh, and Jack rubbed his forehead. "I'd never want to put you in that situation."

Sam bit her lip and realized what he meant. Jack may have been close to retiring, but Sam still planned on another 10 or 15 years… most of which would be away from home. Concentrating on breathing was the only way to keep from screaming what she now whispered. "We could have tried… at least we'd know for sure."

"You're right… we could have… _we should have…_ But we didn't… and you and I both know why…" The General's eyes began to glisten, this conversation was getting to him as well. "We're soldiers… we get the job done… _no matter what_."

Now Sam smiled, and remembered what John had announced over the PA right before the coup. "Yeah… yeah we do…" She stared back, knowing that the wormhole would be disengaging sooner rather than later. "Do you regret…" another wince, and another half sentence.

"No…and neither should you… I had a life Carter… I won't lie… I'll miss you a hell of a lot more than I want to admit… and the fact that you're probably taking Daniel makes me just a little peeved."

"Sorry Sir… he uhh… I had nothing to do with that." Sam chuckled, and knew Daniel was under the tender care of Dr Keller and her medical staff. It wasn't right to worry Jack when there was nothing he could do about it. "…I'll miss you too." Sam smiled softly, this was as close as she would ever get to Jack O'Neill and she had to be happy with it. "I wish things could have been different…"

"Me too… but someone's gonna have to keep the IOA from screwing this planet up anymore than they already have." Jack smiled again, just a bit and it was more genuine that any smile Sam had seen in months. "And I've still got to find a way to convince Hayes to put me in charge of the Task Force to find you guys."

They both smirked at his semi-threat; It was one of the more genuine admissions of care Sam had ever heard. "Good luck finding us. Hell even _I _don't even know where we're going."

Jack swallowed before he spoke, and he knew the wormhole wasn't going to last much longer. "Well I'm still your superior officer… and I distinctly recall ordering you to get a life on multiple occasions Carter… That order still stands."

Widening her eyes, Sam looked back at him. "What?"

"You heard me Carter… No matter what happens, you get a life and you make the best of it. Am I clear?"

Now Sam didn't know what to say. _What was Jack telling her?_ "Sir?"

Jack leaned forward and his features hardened. "No more _'Sir'_… if I've read between the lines right and I know I have, you don't _get_ to call me Sir anymore." He saw a strange sense of hurt and joy in Sam's face, and Jack knew he had to finish this. "So as my last order to you… You don't regret a damn thing. Am I Clear?"

A sniffle left Sam's nose, and her jaw trembled slightly as she whispered. "_Jack?"_

"_Am.?"_

It was always like this… having to speak laterally… Jack was telling her to move on… and just like yesterday after the briefing with Woolsey… Sam didn't want to but… she knew she _had_ to. "_Yes…yes, Sir_…"

Jack sighed softly, and he closed his eyes to control his emotions… Jack never broke, but he sure as hell was bending now. "Good…" He opened his eyes and looked straight at Sam. "I'll hold you to that you know?"

Sam smiled back, it might not have been what she wanted, but it was too late to do anything else and Sam knew this was the only way. "I know you will…" A sharp breath, and Sam knew this was it. "I'll never forget you Jack."

A smirk crossed Jack's face, and the glistening look in his eyes told Sam everything they could never say. "I'll keep a cake in the fridge just in case."

Sam laughed, and it served well to hide the sob that wanted to come out. "Ha….I uhh… I appreciate that." Sam knew this was it… only seconds remained for the wormhole. "Goodbye Jack." She pressed her hand on the screen… wanting to show just how much she really would miss him.

Jack nodded and put his own hand on his screen. A intergalactic personal moment. "Not goodbye… just… See ya later Samantha."

No more words… and Sam smiled just to keep from crying. Jack smiled softly too, and almost too quickly the video link shut off.

Sam had done what she had to do… and when the Asurans arrived… No matter what happened Sam knew she had everything in order.

It still didn't help her now though, and for the first time in years Sam was unable to keep from drawing in sharp breaths and holding back the tears.


	4. Chapter 4

John staggered into the control room. His feet felt so heavy from being awake and fighting… having to corral his friends… _his comrades…_ John knew there was probably going to be a special place in hell for him after today.

The control room was almost empty… Larrin's Traveler Engineers would take over tomorrow when the shit had been peeled off the fan. As it stood.. . only Chuck and a few tired Traveler Guards remained.

The Canadian turned and gave John a haggard expression. "Sir…"

Shaking his hand in front of him, John groaned as he thought about the salute. "God sake… don't call me that… _Jesus_ Chuck…"

The technician started to laugh, it was a rueful laugh though and he tugged on his hair. "Good point… so… Sheppard?"

Moving closer, John put a hand on the man's shoulder. He was now one of his only trusted friends… one who'd agreed to betray everything they'd sworn to uphold. "Only during crunch time… you call me John from now on."

Nodding, still feeling like crap, Chuck clicked his tongue. "John… _wow…_ feels so different without Colonel to it."

Chuckling sardonically, John shook his head. "Yeah well… until further notice… John or Sheppard…" He squeezed Chuck's shoulder a few times in thanks, grateful that he'd supported him so readily. "Where's Carter? Haven't seen her since…" A moment to swallow the event. "…since we got split up."

Chuck blew a soft sigh and motioned with his head to the office where the blinds were drawn. "In there… opened a secure uplink back to the SGC… I didn't ask what it was for."

John knew Sam hadn't tried to warn them of what had happened. She'd made her choice… that entire time Woolsey had threatened to take John away she knew… Sam had sat there knowing for a fact that this was going to happen. "Yeah… how long ago was that?"

"Bout an hour… I've been coordinating with Ronon's team to find stragglers… still a few out there but they're laying low… don't think they'll try and sabotage anything with those Wraith up there…"

Groaning, John knew damn well that the Wraith were waiting for that SuperHive… 6 Aurora Class Battleships and Daedalus were barely enough to knock out its hyperdrive before it turned them all to swiss cheese. The ZPMs were the only reason Daedalus had been able to limp back… which wasn't enough for the Traveler Aurora. "Yeah… goddamnit…" He looked over to Sam's office and knew he shouldn't go in there… most likely she was still struggling to come to grips with the situation and needed time alone…

They just didn't have any time left to spare. "I'm gonna see how Sam's doing… keep everyone out would ya?"

"Yeah… sure thing… Larrin's coming by with someone to take over for me so I'll tell em the same."

John nodded idly, and stepped across the bridge to Sam's office… Would it even still be considered _hers?_ They hadn't worked out how anything was going to transition… if this Wormhole Drive worked they'd be god knows how many millions of light years away in a completely foreign galaxy… John had really lived up to Sam's image of him he realized… he was a goddamned impulsive hero.

At least he would be… as long as this Wormhole Drive didn't shred them to bare atoms. "Sam?" he opened the door, and noted that the lights were turned down.

Sam sat on her couch with her hands covering her head, her body turned away from the door. Both feet were on the couch as she sat with her knees up to her face. _"Go away…" _Her voice was harsh and anguished even as her knees muffled it. It was obvious Sam was very affected.

John closed the door behind him and took a few steps closer. "Sam…" He stopped. John wanted to say _'are you okay?'_ but knew better than to ask such a stupid question. Sam had just gone against everything she'd been working her whole life towards… It had likely shattered her perception of her reality. "…Hey."

Despite the soft almost imperceptible sobs, Sam still managed to keep the rage in her voice from overwhelming her. "_Get out…"_

Now feeling truly sympathetic for this woman, John knew what he had to do. It was oddly fitting… only days before, he'd broken down and her support had helped him recover from a grievous blow… time to return the favor. He sat beside and behind her and put an arm around Sam's shoulders even as she looked away from him. She flinched slightly from his touch, but didn't strike out. "Come on Sam… you need to get some rest."

Now close up, he could see that her cheeks were dirty with tears, and her eyes bloodshot from crying. Sam's tone remained strong, but wavered as her voice cracked _"Just leave me alone…"_

John winced as he hugged her with one arm, and thought about what way he might be able to break through her still raised defenses. "Sam… I don't want to leave you alone like this… but if you really want me to leave… I'll go."

Sniffling hard, Sam didn't reply, instead she just pulled her face away even more and continued sobbing softly… barely more than just catching breaths, Sam struggled vainly to regain her composure.

Taking her non-response as an answer, John gently pulled her closer on the sofa and put both arms around her. Sam refused to face him, turning her head down and away as she rubbed her face.

John kept his voice soft, and he struggled to keep the words coming out… words he'd known about himself for long time… but words that he could never bring himself to say. "_Sam…_ I know you'll be okay on your own… you got nothing to prove to me…but if you start burying this it's not gonna stop..."

Sam still didn't speak, just staying still as she felt his arms around her. There was so much she wanted to just scream, everything had just dropped on her so fast… the weeks she'd spent trying to solve this problem differently just faded away… pointless time wasted for what in the end amounted to nothing.

Continuing, John lowered his voice as he whispered into her ear. "You need to cry? _You do it_… you don't want anyone to know? _Classified._ You don't want to tell me a damn thing? Good! Cuz I'm not gonna be your Kleenex…" It was rough, and Sam couldn't believe John was saying what he was saying. Tough love was a thing she'd always believed in… but now receiving it was a hell of a lot different. She stayed quiet as John lowered his voice… speaking much more personally. "…But I'm also not going to let you simmer and buckle under this shit… I'd have given up if you didn't help me…_ let me help you…_we need you… _I need you._" He noted that she moved slightly, her eyes looking across at him with her head just barely cocked enough to allow eye to eye contact. "_…I need you Sam."_

Sam knew what he meant… the pain of Rodney's… _final message_… was still raw in him and she knew what he meant when he said he needed her. John had just willingly lost something he held dear to save the lives of the 6000 people in the city…

Sam couldn't help but realize that she'd just lost contact with pretty much everyone she ever trusted… and of the 2 people left she still relied on… one was in the infirmary with a stab wound and broken ribs… while the other was begging her to let him help her. Without any words, Sam slowly turned and accepted John's hug.

Alone, neither was strong enough to overcome this situation easily… but maybe together they could come out on top and do more than survive.

Neither said anything as they spent a few minutes like that. John knew that Sam had been awake a lot longer than he had…and even he was beginning to reach the reserves of his stamina. "I'll walk you to your quarters."

A soft nod, and Sam wiped her face again with her hands. She turned to look at John to ask… but seeing his nodding head, she knew the answer. He kept an arm around her, silently giving her support she didn't know she could have… support that up until she made that choice in the conference room she wasn't _allowed_ to have.

Somewhere deep in Sam's mind she was thinking hard, realizing that her life had just taken a very serious turn and there just weren't any constants… _any safe bets_ anymore…

Looking at her reflection in the glass pane, Sam knew damn well she looked like a mess. She didn't want anyone to see her like this… even John who was standing right there made her uncomfortable… She tried to clean herself up, but it was pointless. The little bit of mascara she'd put on in the morning was smeared and would need her makeup kit to fix.

John could see Sam was utterly frustrated and could understand where she was coming from… so he gave her a way out. "Chuck… this is Sheppard… you there?"

A few moments passed, and Chuck's voice came in softly. "Yeah…"

Sam looked up at John confused. "_What are…?"_

John shook his head to her in a silent move asking for silence. Sam turned away again and tried to recompose herself… but this was by _far_ the most stressful moment of her life. "Chuck… I need a favor… can you clear the control room and the hallway to the nearest transporter for the next 5 minutes?"

"Uhh.. Sir?"

Wincing, John decided that perhaps honorifics had their place. "Just do it Chuck… I'll owe you one."

"Uhhh yeah… yeah Larrin's out here so uh… just give us a few minutes."

John remained on the couch with Sam silently breathing into his chest. She'd been without close contact like this for so long she'd forgotten how reassuring it could feel. It seemed stupid to her… just a few days ago she'd offered him the same support and he had admitted he wouldn't have made it without her.

Now the roles were reversed… except… it wasn't just one way anymore. Sam knew that by accepting his help… she herself helped John recover from the shock of the last two day's events.

After a few minutes, John tugged Sam up to her feet and kept her close as she continued to breath deep controlling breaths. She'd stopped crying and what barely passed for sobs had ended as well. To someone who didn't know her, they'd say she just had a little moment…

But John knew he'd been witness to something so shockingly personal and emotional that he didn't think Sam would ever tell him what she'd fractured over… Fractured… not broken… because Sam wasn't the kind of person to break… not completely anyway.

He hated to admit it… but Sam was so much stronger than he was that whatever had done this to her… it scared John. "You ready?"

Another silent nod, and John let go of the hug keeping one arm around her shoulders. The control room was empty, and the hallway behind that led to the nearest transporter was empty. John thanked God that Chuck was such an understanding man… he could only pray that it wasn't a pointless gesture when they finally raised the city again.

Sam remained quiet the whole way. But John could see that she was looking at the hallways, probably looking for people who weren't going to be roaming anymore… people she'd led and come to trust with her life.

It was so unfair. John never imagined he'd have to sacrifice his loyalty to the force… or even Earth to do what he felt was right. And even more, he knew Sam probably felt ten times worse… but he'd judged her right, and she was unwilling to abandon these people even though she was given the chance.

A few minutes passed before reaching her quarters… John waited for her to open the door before he spoke. "Get some sleep… we both need it."

Sam took a step in, then hesitated as she bowed her head. She turned quickly and spoke softly. "Wait…"

John had already turned to go to his own quarters, looking back, he could see that Sam really wanted to say something but just couldn't find the words. "…Yeah?"

Swallowing her pride, Sam sighed and mumbled, "I… I can't sleep…" It wasn't a plea to be heard, it was simply stating a fact. "I'm going to the infirmary…" A part of John wanted to be ignorant and ask whether she was okay… but he knew that physical illness wasn't what was compelling her.

Seeing that she was asking for company, John himself realized that he'd been neglecting his own family to save the lives of strangers. "…heading that way myself."

Sam smiled softly as she nodded, and looked over her shoulder as she entered her room. "Just give me a minute."

Smirking, John shook his head idly as he leaned on the wall and let his head drift back and eyes face the ceiling. Sam was a very private person… and with her luck, no one would know she'd fractured with the makeup retouching she was doing now.

-----------------------------------

"Sam…?"

Taking the archeologist's hand, Sam squeezed softly and nodded. "Yeah… yeah it's me…"

To the side, the Traveler Medical staff were busy learning all they could about the Ancient scanners, and Dr Keller's medical dictionary. The doctor herself was passed out on one of a few couches that had been brought in to give those waiting for treatment somewhere comfortable to wait.

Daniel groaned softly as he tried to sit up. His chest still ached terribly from the fall, but the amount of morphine in his system kept the edge off. Sam quickly put a hand on this uninjured shoulder and pinned him to the bed. "Oh no…! I'm already in a bitchy mood and you're _not_ testing me today."

Groaning, Daniel relented and lay back. "And I _wanted_ you to come see me?"

Sam chuckled softly and sighed. "Oh _lord_…" She sniffled once and squeezed Daniel's shoulder supportively. "What have I done Daniel…? _My god…_ what have I _done?"_

Knowing that she was begging Daniel for his approval, the Archeologist knew she deserved it and more. "The only thing you could do…" He squeezed her hand back and tried not to cough from the pain in his chest. "… the right thing."

Remaining relatively quiet, Sam sat down and simply watched as Daniel tried and failed to sleep.

A few rooms down, John sat with Teyla, the Athosian woman having recovered mostly from the premature birth. In front of them, the aforementioned child lay silently inside the incubator. "He's perfect…"

John nodded and kept one arm around Teyla's shoulders. She was still in her scrubs, with an IV giving her body fluids. "That he is…"

Teyla turned to John and wrapped both arms around him. "Thank you John… I am so sorry I could not assist you today…"

"It's okay Teyla… you had to be here…" He put a hand on the glass and wondered just what the child inside was dreaming of… certainly not the death and sorrow the city had hanging over it. "This little guy needed you." They remained silent, simply desiring to bask in the calm of the serene moment. John quietly whispered "You got a name yet?"

Inside the chamber, the baby stirred softly and curled his little toes. Teyla sighed contentedly and stared at her baby… the newest member of her family. "I… I haven't decided yet… not fully."

"Fully?"

Teyla nodded softly, and looked to John. "I was going to call him Torren… after my father… but I wished to give him another name as well…something symbolic."

Chuckling softly, and yawning involuntarily, John sighed as he looked back to Teyla. He wanted to suggest Kanaan… but he knew the wound was still open and he would only be pouring salt in it. "Guess you've got a hard decision ahead of you."

"I was thinking Rodney."

A slight double take, but John smiled. "…I think he would have liked that." John thought hard about what he knew… what both he and Sam had decided to keep quiet until things had calmed down… a secret he hoped he wouldn't have to take to his grave. "Teyla… I think that's a great name. Torren Rodney Emmagen."

Teyla smiled, and leaned forward to place her forehead to the glass. "Torren… Rodney… Emmagen…" She remained there, silently praying for the health and wellbeing of her son.

When John noticed the drop of water flowing down the glass, he knew instantly Teyla was putting on a brave face. "Hey…" He put his arm around Teyla and hugged her. So many times Teyla had been there for him that it would feel criminal… much more so than he had felt all day to leave her alone. "... I'm sorry I haven't been around much…"

Shaking her head, Teyla turned and hugged John tightly. "It's okay John… you have been fighting for us all… Torren Rodney included." She let go of John slightly, and her face creased in worry. "You are exhausted John… Go… rest.. . do not worry about me until this city is safe… that is your task and I trust you to it."

John wanted to argue, but his heavy eyelids and sore body agreed with her. "… if you need anything…"

"I have everything I need John…" She leaned forward and kissed John on the cheek. "…perhaps not everything I wanted… but you have given me the time for that."

Feeling the sincere care from the Athosian woman, John couldn't help himself and took Teyla's cheeks in his hands. He gently pressed his forehead to hers… and once again remained silent when his soul screamed at him to speak the words he'd longed to say.

Without speech, John got up from his seat and left the room leaving Teyla and Torren Rodney.

----------------------------------

Lorne sat on the floor of the hallway and knew that there was no escape. Not that he really wanted to… but he kept considering everything that had happened.

He'd fired on his commanding officer… granted it was just a stunner like he order all his men to do… but he still looked John in the eyes and took the shot. Maybe he'd missed on purpose… but the act was still….

No… he'd missed on purpose… twice he had that chance and twice his shot was just a little to the left…

Evan just couldn't do it… he couldn't abandon Earth… His duty was to the Air Force and to Earth… the IOA could suck his… well… it didn't matter much anymore. The Travelers were just too many and it wasn't long before he got split up from his men.

He heard heavy footfalls coming from ahead, and he knew instantly it was Ronon. His good friend Ronon… come to hunt him down.

Evan looked up and watched as Ronon neared him. The Satedan didn't have his weapon pointed at him, but he didn't look exactly friendly. Evan kept his voice calm as he spoke. "Hey."

Ronon nodded back and stood a few feet away from him. "Hey."

Gulping, Lorne smacked his lips knowing what was coming. "Any casualties?"

"Some." The Satedan said so much with just a single word.

Now sighing heavily, Lorne rubbed his face. "I wanted to help, you know? I… I don't want to see these people hurt…"

"I know."

Taking a deep breath, Lorne pushed himself off the ground and kept his hands in a surrender position. "Tell Sheppard and Sam that I'm sorry… and that I'll do everything I can for them back home."

"Will do." Major Lorne had been stunned before, it was a common unpleasant fact living in Pegasus. He was a bit surprised when Ronon simply motioned with his head and gestured. "Come on… Caldwell's gonna need a new right hand man."

As he moved forward, Lorne kept his hands out to the side now as Ronon's prisoner. "Marks?"

"Yeah… said he didn't want Apollo to be for nothing."

Lorne sighed softly realizing that this whole situation was forcing people to have to make a final choice… and he only prayed to God that he'd made the right one for him.

--------------------------------

'Hey… John."

Standing over Sam's curled body next to Daniel's bed, John shook his head idly as he looked to Daniel. "Does she ever use her bed?"

Shrugging, Daniel winced at the pain in his chest. "I'm just as bad… can't tell you the times Jack and Dr. Frasier had to drag us to bed."

"You okay?"

Daniel nodded. "Not my first party… I'll heal…" he looked down to Sam and gave her sleeping form a caring face. "She's really torn up… haven't seen her like this ever."

John winced, he couldn't help but feel responsible. "She saved me. IOA was gonna drag me back… hell they were even planning on taking the ZPMs Caldwell brought back to Earth… just leave Atlantis to rot…"

"Well… look at it this way. All the IOA cares about is Earth… nothing else." It was pure logic, and John hated that he had a very logical mind. "Atlantis… and all these people… they're all expendable because they're _not_ Earth."

Nodding idly, John curled his fist. "I didn't know it had gotten so bad… god I wish things were different."

There wasn't much else to talk about, and Daniel took the few moments of silence to try and breath properly. He then gestured down to Sam who slept with her arms as pillows next to Daniel's leg on the bed. "Do me a favor? Take her to her quarters. She needs actual sleep… we all do." He smirked realizing that Sam had just awoken from hearing them talk and decided to tease her. "Guess you'll have to carry her…"

John groaned softly, but acquiesced quickly enough, His hand came down to Sam's shoulders, and her voice was groggy and harsh as she shifted. _"Mmmrrmmm… Carry me and __die__."_

Daniel didn't hide his amusement, and used his knee to shove at Sam's face forcing her awake. "Well since I'm sure Sheppard wants to live, how about you just go back to your quarters?"

Sam groaned as she lightly smacked at Daniel's knee, then waved off any efforts from John to help her up. "I'm fine… I'm _fine_ John… just…" Sam sighed, realizing that a bed really was what she needed now. "Travelers doing alright?"

John nodded as he watched Sam rub her eyes and yawned as he spoke. "Just checked in with Zelenka. He's still pretty fresh so he offered to take the night shift… City'll still be here in the morning."

Nodding, Sam turned back to Daniel and patted him on the shoulder, "Get better… we need you out there."

"And you need to get to bed… Go… I've got the call button that just ups my morphine so I'll be _just fine._"

Sam couldn't help it and snickered a bit. John gestured with his head and kept his voice quiet. "Come on… I'll walk you back."

Now feeling much better, Sam muttered to him as they left the infirmary. "I'm quite capable of finding my own quarters… even if I'm exhausted."

Rolling his eyes, John kept his scoff to himself. "Humor me…"

Too tired to argue, Sam figured his company was better than nothing.

They kept quiet most of the way, and only as they exited the Transporter in the hallway where Sam's room was did John finally begin to talk. "Sam…?"

"Yeah?"

He shot a sidelong glance to her as they walked. "You don't have to stay."

Curious as to what he meant, Sam slowed down her walk. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Here…" he motioned to the city itself. "…I know this is hard on you… I'm just saying that as much as I appreciate you helping us… you can still go home… I don't think anyone is going to blame you."

Feeling anger at his words… Already she'd been through hell to get this far, to back out now was cowardly. "You think I didn't know that?"

Nearing her quarters now, John saw that they were finally going to have it out. Weeks worth of repression spilled out of his mouth. "I want you to know I won't hold it against you… I know you've still got a lot back home."

Sam sniffled once, but not out of sorrow, now it was rage. "_God I hate you John Sheppard…_" She stared back at him with a scorn-filled face. "I hate that you were right… I hate that this had to happen and I hate the way things have turned out."

"Then why are you staying?"

"_Because I've got nothing left!_" Sam's voice rose to a near yell. "I came here because I was _ordered to!_ How the _hell_ was I supposed to know this would happen and you'd end up mutinying!?"

John sighed and winced hard. His eyes burned from exhaustion. "You think I _wanted_ it this way? You think I _wanted_ to put you in this situation? I hate this shit too but I don't know what the _fuck_ I'm supposed to do about it!"

"_Nothing!_ There's nothing you could have done and now it's too late!"

"Then why don't you just go home?"

Finally losing control, Sam's hand came up with an open palm and slapped John's face hard. The Lieutenant Colonel staggered back from the surprise attack and groaned softly as he rubbed his sore cheek. He looked back to Sam who was trembling in fury.

John closed his eyes and hung his head in shame. He knew what Sam was talking about now. "… _I deserved that_… I'm sorry I forced you into this Sam…"

Sam took a few deep calming breathes… and her fist clenched as the last bit of self-control faded. "…I know… and you didn't deserve that…" She noted John scoff softly, and understood that he knew he deserved far worse. "…_You deserve this_."

With a deft move, Sam fed off the adrenaline in her system from slapping him and decked him hard across the head. John was caught completely off guard and flew back into the hallway. Sam was furious and John was the only target she could vent her rage on.

Momentarily stunned, John doubled over as Sam bodychecked and slammed him into the wall behind him. He finally realized that she was attacking him full out and tried to defend himself. John gave it a half assed effort despite what his training was telling him, knowing that while it was unlikely Sam would kill him, the steam she vented would more likely help than hinder.

His eyes were hurting from the sudden strikes, and even as he blocked another two gut punches, John was again caught unawares as Sam swung low with her foot and knocked him to the ground injuring his knee as he landed.

John smashed into the ground hard, and quickly rolled over onto his hands and knees. Sam evidently wasn't above fighting dirty and kicked him in the ribs even as he tried to get up. One of the kicks landed close to his groin and John almost felt like calling a _'time out'._

At this point it was almost comical, and John couldn't help but laugh softly as Sam completely and unrelentingly kicked his ass. This was what he deserved… John had mutinied against everything he'd sworn to protect and unwittingly ruined Sam's life back on Earth. But by her own words, life on Earth wasn't complete without the Stargate…

Sam jumped onto him as he pushed himself into a sitting position by the wall and began to shake him furiously by his collar all while punching him in the face. "_You bastard! You goddamn heroic bastard…!"_

The fury died down, and Sam's panting of rage slowly devolved into a muted sobbing. John felt the trickle of blood going down his face, and suddenly the fight turned into something else.

Now Sam wasn't shaking him anymore, and instead she brought her head down to his shoulder and cried out in sorrow. _"Oh god… John… god I'm so sorry…!"_

John couldn't help but imagine what they looked like. Both were dressed in non-expedition BDU's, Sam's hair that had been tied in a pony tail was free and all over the place. He had his back to the wall and was probably bleeding from multiple lacerations… John really couldn't distinguish one pain from another now… and with Sam now hugging him as she sobbed, John questioned just what deity he'd insulted to get such a messed up moment in his life. "…_that…_ I deserved."

Not laughing at his sarcasm, Sam instead pulled John up to his feet and helped him stand. She'd done a very efficient job beating the shit out of him and John could barely stand now. "_Oh god… John I-I-I…"_

"Sam… it's okay… _I-I_ _know_… I know you needed to get that out… just take me to the infirmary and we're all good… kay?" Instead of backpedalling, Sam instead began to help him limp towards her quarters. Resisting a bit, still not _completely_ sure about what Sam was going to do to him, John tried to keep his voice civil. "Whoa there! Don't you think you've beat enough crap outta me?"

Sam grunted exasperatedly and dragged him in. "_Jo-ohn!_"

It was understandable… they'd question where he'd gotten such a beating from and despite having caused it, John couldn't blame her. As they limped into her room, the doors now closing. John couldn't help but ask. "So what… you got a medkit in here or something?"

Gently now, Sam laid him down on the bed and moved over to a desk nearby. "_Or something_…"

Too sore and tired to care now. John groaned as he used his sleeve to wipe away the blood on his face. Sam quickly rummaged though an old pack, and then produced some kind of crystal. "The hell is that?"

Sam held the crystal attached to a strap in her right palm. "Tok'ra healing device…" Moving over, she held the crystal out towards John. "Stay still."

Following orders, John held still as the device began to glow and heal the wounds he'd just received. Sam looked like it was mildly draining her and John out a hand on her shoulder as she moved the device over his cheek. "You can use these things? I thought only Tok'ra or Goa'uld could use them."

Sam bit her lower lip, her eyes still moist with tears. "I uhh… about 10 years ago.... A tok'ra took me as a host for a few days… left me with the protein marker…." Sam hardly ever told anyone but doctors this. She felt so bad for hurting John just to… just to vent all her anger at the situation… she wanted him to trust her again. "…I…I hate using it… but…" She didn't finish the sentence, it didn't need to be said.

John felt a lot better as she ran the glowing device over the rest of his body. Granted it didn't heal him completely, but a little soreness was 10 times better than the bruised flesh she'd left him with. "Thanks…"

It was so awkward… Sam kneeling in front of him repressing her sobs, John wiping away what little blood was left with his sleeve. Certainly this wasn't how he expected the night to end.

Sam finished with the device and laid it down on the dresser next to the bed, she then took John into a hug and whispered. "_I'm sorry John… god…I…"_

Wrapping his own arms around her, John recalled what General O'Neill had told him… what he'd _ordered_ him to do… He'd never tell Sam that the General had asked him to do so, because now as he felt her hold onto him… it gave John comfort… as well as silently asking for comfort herself.

John knew it wasn't following orders if he _wanted_ to do it. "Shh… it's okay Sam… you needed to get that out… it's okay… I know.." John himself began to think about all the repressions he needed to get out as well, and even as he spoke he couldn't hold back the wave of emotion. "_shh… it's gonna be okay…"_

Sam noticed instantly, and her hug tightened as she pulled him into an embrace. They were both sobbing softly, and as strong as both of them were they knew the situation was reaching their limit.

Sniffling now, John whispered into Sam's ear returning the brutal honesty. "_What have I done Sam…? God I… this… this can't be real…"_

"_It is real… it can't get any realer… I… god I hate you John."_

It made perfect sense, and John simply squeezed Sam harder as he breathed into her neck. "_I know… and I'm sorry… god forgive me… I'm so sorry I had to do this to you Sam…"_

"_I know… I…I __want__ to forgive you…" _Sam nodded, feeling that her own guilt was fading. She pulled back a bit, and looked John in the eyes. Their faces were only a few inches apart. "_As much as I hate you right now… I know you're right… I know you only did what I wish I could do."_

John remained silent a moment, and then whispered. "_You're here… you made your choice… I'm glad you're here Sam… I know it's selfish and you hate me right now… but I'm glad you're here…"_

They stared at each other for a moment, both wondering exactly what he meant by those words. Sam leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his… unknowingly mimicking the Athosian greeting.

The silence of the room combined with the darkness… and the fact that Sam was pretty much on top of him pushed John over the edge. He leaned forward slightly and kissed her gently on the lips. All he wanted was to show Sam he cared… that he wouldn't let some twisted sense of loyalty keep him from doing what was right.

So it came as a serious surprise when she kissed him back even harder when he withdrew.

Within moments both had their hands around each other pushing for a deeper kiss. It was so sudden and almost animal like that neither could think of anything else. John leaned back and dragged Sam onto the bed with him, her body not resisting as she lay on top of him.

For a moment, neither really could think of anything but the shivers going through their bodies, the shock still not having taken effect.

That is until John absentmindedly let his hand slide down her back and up into her shirt. He was fully enjoying the pleasurable sounds his commanding officer was making and suddenly felt her jerk away as his fingers caressed the skin along the small of her back. Feeling a shiver fly across her spine, Sam yelped and pushed away, suddenly resisting what she herself had continued.

'_What am I doing!? For God's sake Carter…!"_ Sam screamed at herself internally. She was vulnerable… she was weak… and right now she wanted nothing more than to continue what she'd just stopped. It wasn't right for this to happen. Sam felt the regs shrieking at her… but at the same time, the fact that they'd pretty much gone rogue was also screaming. John seemed confused himself but he couldn't have had the same tug of war going on inside Sam.

A part of her wanted this _so_ badly. She wanted to give in and just let the night go where it wanted… she'd broken all the rules and all that was left was this one… but at the same time she looked to John and didn't see him… she saw someone else… someone she would probably never see again… someone who up until this point had been off-limits.

Sam had fallen for that trick once before… _never again_. She'd told herself that never again would she settle and spend her days wishing for what could be. John was _John_ dammit… _not Jack_…… _not Jack…!_ As much as she wanted to just fall into John's arms again and go with the flow… it was too much a betrayal… John would just be another Pete right now…

It would betray Jack… it would betray John… .and it would certainly betray herself more than anything else. She realized just how much John meant to her now… and how much she must have meant to him for all this to happen the way it happened. Sam wanted to look at him and see John… but all she could see right now was Jack… and Sam couldn't bring herself to lie to herself… and John…. John… the man who had defied all logic and actually….

John was just downright confused, and now ashamed… _god did I really just try and… ?_

He knew he enjoyed her presence, and John was definitely attracted to her… but he couldn't give in to his weak urges now… forcing every last bit of his concentration, he focused on the task at hand. There was still so much to do and as much as John wanted to, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

Realization dawned on them, and in the dark, all John could think was one thing as he looked at Sam across from him. "…_oh shit_."

Sam rolled off him and stared at the ceiling. _Certainly,_ this was one of the more awkward moments of her life. She looked over to John as he lay beside her and tried to think of something to say. "…_shit_."

Escape, that was what John needed. They were exhausted, they were delirious, and now if the way Sam was panting was any indication, they were certainly flustered. John muttered as he caught his breath. "I should go…"

Sam nodded and muttered as well as she rubbed her eyes. "You _should_ go…"

A few moments, passed, John wondering what she meant by that. He eventually sat up and was about to walk away when he felt Sam's arms come around him again. "Sam?"

"You _should_ go… but I _want_ you to stay."

John had his hands out to the side, his head leaning back. Sam's body pressed up to his and it was _hell_ not to embrace her again. "I… I thought you… _I-I mean_…. I thought _we_… _god I'm so sorry Sam_… _I-I-I_…"

Sam shook her head. "_No…! _No no noJohn_…" _She pulled John into another kiss. However, this time it wasn't as uncontrolled as the last one, this time Sam carefully and very cautiously rolled her lips on his. John didn't resist, but he didn't encourage their tongue movements either. Sam could see he was distraught and feeling very awkward now. She moved from his lips to his ear and whispered. "You… you weren't _wrong_ John…" She pulled back and looked at him in the eyes once more. "You're just not… _right_."

It hit John like a bag full of doorknobs. _"Holy shit… oh my sweet god what have I done…?" _The realization that Sam was distraught… and that quite possibly the reason she was being so emotional was something as simple and complicated as loving someone… especially someone as forbidden as General O'Neill must have been… It really was her life that had fallen down around them. "…Sam…what… how… _god how can I ever make this up to you?"_

It was the coward's way out, to let her decide what to do here. He'd thought this day could get no more insane but now as she sat up in Sam Carter's bed with her pressed up right against him… he knew never to say never again.

Sam sighed softly and kissed him again. "Just… stay…"

"Is…is that what you want?" He knew there was something between them… ever since that night in DC so many months ago when he'd asked her to go with him. At the time, he just wanted company that he wasn't going to have to lie to about what he did… Sam was unfortunately the only one in the Galaxy who could have done so though.

It became more though, that night was forever etched in their minds and since then, he'd only been finding her more and more alluring. Regulations kept their personal relationship as good friends… but could there have been more? John realized just how awkward and lost Sam must be feeling… from one forbidden attractoin to another… except… she had made a choice…

John looked over at her and wondered. What did _she_ see them as?

A moment of silence, and then Sam nodded gently. "We've broken every other rule in the book… so… yeah… yeah I do want you to stay…" Sam really did want the company. There were so many times that she wanted someone to share her feelings with… someone she could trust implicitly and call a best friend; cruel fate kept one man she wished for away. Since then she'd felt desperation, and learned the lesson well.

Sam shifted her weight back onto him and gazed into his eyes… wondering what he must have been thinking. "John…?"

"Yeah?" John began to lean back, pulling Sam into a cuddle they could sleep comfortably in. It was still a little awkward, but both tried to get past the moment just past.

"Are we gonna talk about this tomorrow?" Sam's voice was soft, almost bereft of hope.

A _very_ hard question. John had hoped that whatever this encounter left them with could be solved with a minimum of these… _'feeeeeelings' _thing… He'd already exposed his vulnerable side to her on Proculus, he wasn't ready to do it again. "Probably not."

Sam didn't move or even flinch. Instead, she sighed and closed her eyes. "And the day after?"

Would they survive that long? The Wormhole Drive was so finicky, Radek had told them it was an astronomical chance that it would work perfectly let alone at all. "I doubt it."

Sam opened her eyes again and bit the insides of her lips before speaking. "… _ever_?"

John knew that she was asking for time… and truth be told he needed time as well. This was happening so suddenly. He still questioned how the fuck they'd gone from comrades, to buddies, to reluctant renegades, to supportive friends, instant enemies, and finally ending up sleeping in the same bed after she kicked his ass. Certainly, he'd had some strange bedfellows before, but feeling Sam wrap her legs around his in an effort to get comfortable made him question whether he'd stepped into an alternate reality. "I…I dunno…"

Sam's voice was soft now, almost nonexistent. "…me neither…" It wasn't long before his eyelids were finally too heavy, and hearing Sam snore ever so softly, he fell asleep with a hint of a snicker in his breath.

---------------------------------

A/NL In the original draft, there was an ultra!angsty Sam/Jack moment that i've recreated here. I've added alot more meat to the characters individual dillemas and moral quandries and i hope you've all enjoyed it.

Sam kicking the crap out of John just had to happen. She's had so much shit happen to her in this story that venting it is the only possible recourse. :p

Next episode in a week, and it opens with something rather funny and shocking. Here's an Excerpt.

_Sheppard: "Yer shittin' me. you want me to bring you what?."_

_Chuck: "Pants sir... it's complicated."  
_


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